Essay On Handicrafts

“We belong to a region which contains a rich heritage of values whose significance for the present and the future cannot be minimized – (values that) teach us that life is not made rich by simply cluttering it up with acquisitions but rather by self expression, that beauty is not determined by the possession of expensive objects but rather by making everything we use in our daily life, no matter how mundane, beautiful…” --Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, ‘Of Reason Fragmented’, C D Deshmukh Memorial Lecture In the first half of the 20th Century, many of the traditional handicrafts began to face an identity crisis and survival became an issue in the face of machine-made goods, mill manufactured textiles and the onslaught of the plastic age. Changing lifestyles and attitudes engendered by a Colonial mindset contributed to the steep decline in both the quality and usage of handcrafted products.
More and more crafts began to languish and even disappear and by the time of Independence, the craft and textile scenario were in a state of total crisis. And this in the most beautiful treasure house of handcrafted skills found anywhere in the world, where devotional lyrics were addressed to the concept of creative beauty and where

As chief of the Board of Handicrafts, she started pension system for the craftsmen. She set up a series of crafts museums like the Theatre Crafts Museum in Delhi, to promote India's indigenous arts and crafts and serve as a storehouse for indigenous knowledge. Kamaladevi instituted the National Awards for Master Craftsmen and a culmination of her enterprising spirit lead to the setting up Central Cottage Industries Emporia, through out the nation to cater to the tastes of a nation, rising to its ancient glory. She was instrumental in setting up the All India Handicrafts Board. She was also the first president of the World Crafts Council, Asia Pacific