Gaurang Shah, Hyderabad-based textile savant extraordinaire, has been traversing the country for the last 20 years and invigorating the weaving traditions of India. His work spread across 16 states, engaging 7000 weavers, craftspeople, and others in ancillary trades in a perennial stable livelihood.
Interview Script :
Vanshaj – Hi, I’m Vanshaj from Central Saint Martins, London and I have seen your work such a fabulous work you have done. I am working on a research project about Indian artisans. And I was working on a question that how can we connect a bridge between the fashion industry and Indian Artisans. So, we came to a conclusion that it can be done very flawlessly with the help of intermediaries, the people who can guide artisans and those can be a bridge between artisans and the film or fashion industry. So, do you have some suggestions on this?
Gaurang – It is very easy that the other designer has to connect with the artisans directly you cannot have a middleman in between. First, of all the designer needs to identify what he needs to work on. India is such a country that every few kilometers every few miles you will get to see different kinds of weaving and textiles. So, the first thing is you need to identify what you want to work on. You want to do fabrics, you want to make saris what all do you want to do, then you will have to connect directly with the artisans if you get in middlemen they are going to make money. So it is going to become more expensive.
Vanshaj – Is it like easy for designers to work directly with artisans?
Gaurang – It is very easy, Only thing is the designer has to have the full knowledge of what the artisan weaves are created, the designer has to know the whole knowledge of the weaving process.
Vanshaj – if some artisans are new, and want to learn something new or register under some courses?
Gaurang – Artisan is new so the designer doesn’t do anything they are artisan have to go to the design school and learn or go to different other reading centers and learn.
Vanshaj – So, you like to work directly with the artisans and so you have no, the middle person in between?
Gaurang – Yes, yes Because I don’t have anyone in between. Okay, it is better that way. See, what happens is when you create a design, which you need the artisan to create for you, you have to directly connect with them. If you have middlemen, then it is going to get lost.
Vanshaj – Yes, that is true. So like, what do you feel like how can we empower these artisans ?
Gaurang – You have to keep on giving them work continuously. Anything, anyone you want to empower you have to keep them giving them work throughout the year and keep giving them good money for that work. What they are doing. That’s it.
Vanshaj – Exactly, but there are so many artists who do not get to work.
Gaurang – They do not get work. It’s their problem. It’s their mistake because they don’t want to change. See there are artisans who are ready to change what the designer wants to create. There are artisans who don’t want to do that. So for example, there is a state in India , Orissa where it can happen . I try to work with artisans there I tried to change their colors, designs, and textures but they are not ready to do they want to do their own colors what they have been doing their designs what they have been doing. So that won’t work in today’s time. They don’t know what the customer likes. Okay, so you understand that we know what the customers are like they are sitting in the villages we are sitting in the cities here. Yeah, that is true. So it is in it’s not only in weaving or textiles or anything, it is in every other sector you can think of that you need to keep on changing every day.
Vanshaj – Okay, that’s a great insight. So, they are very rigid about how they work?
Gaurang – You cannot be rigid in today’s times you need to be very very versatile & flexible. As your designer has asked to create something, they should do. I cannot say no to them. Okay, technical wise you need any help, tell the designer what technically is the requirement, some of my viewers then tell me -” Okay, I don’t have this color dye please get it for me or I’m not able to get this yarn which you have specified. Get done for me, I’m not able to dye the yarn in this village get it done for me, that way you have to help them.
Vanshaj – Have you seen the un-easiness of learning that they are not able to learn more and grow more?
Gaurang – Over the years I have trained my Weavers in such a way, they will never say no to what I give them. They know that what he has given , he needs that and we have to do it, so they better do it and they do it also They never say no “it’s not possible”. Our target is daily we give at least four to five designs to the weavers, each and every design is fulfilled.
Vanshaj – That’s good and that’s really appreciated. Could you please share some examples of how you run the training modules while giving them new developments?
Gaurang – I don’t train anyone what happens is I have weavers which have been weaving since their ancestors, come down from their forefathers and fathers. It is only that we are sharpening their skills , the skills what I use in weaving is called the jamdani weave technique. So each state, each weaving village has its own jamdani weaving technique, using that same technique I’m not changing the technique and keeping that old age-old traditional technique I have changed my designs I have changed my colors I have changed the textures in one sorry I can give three to four different kinds of yarn. I have done more contemporary designs, I have done the traditional designs both ways. So it is the change the weaving technique remains the same the design concept changes totally. That’s what you need to do with everyone. Yeah, I like the case of Orissa. So I wanted them, their technique of Ikkat weaving, they weave with a single thread because I’m not changing the technique I’m changing the designs the color of the yarn.
Design-wise also I won’t change much, but their self is not as good as what I want them to be. My saris are lustrous are soft or a little heavy in weight. I want that my colors are bright pastels, which they don’t want to do they want to do in their safe colors of Maroon yellow, or black only.
Vanshaj – I got it. So like they don’t want to change the process?
Gaurang – Yes. And that’s why there is like lack of work.
Vanshaj – I know it might sound a bit weird question, but I have to ask – do you have something in mind about how to spread awareness for these artisans so that they can grow and understand this digital era?
Gaurang – We’re inviting them to the digital era . Why do you want the digital era? This is everything is handmade here handcrafted here, there is no use of any digital thing here.
Vanshaj – . I mean marketing them.
Gaurang – Weavers are not going to market anything. Weavers sitting in the village and weaving, we are marketing we are creating designs we are the marketing person. If the weaver is going to the market who’s going to do the weaving and Why will the weaver market “this is my order, my design”. I have given Weaver doesn’t have any right to go and show this to anyone else, they have to read it and give it to me only right
Vanshaj – If we will like give them some promise, security that we are going to do something and at a certain level, we are going to show your work you should work and contribute.
Gaurang – I show the work to the world, I will not take the weavers name “I don’t take the weavers name anyway.”
Vanshaj – Okay. So, in the future, it can be possible for you to promote their passion for industry?
Gaurang – why do you want to promote those weavers, they are happily sitting in their village. They are getting the money they are working all throughout the year. What more do you want? If you show them this world they are going to forget their world. Okay, You show them the glamorous world like it has happened with my weavers. They feel it, ” I’m walking with with the celebrity like Vidya Balan , interacting with Kirron kher .They also want to do that they have come into this world and they have forgotten there was then and they are nowhere now.
Where they belong to , will be happy if they will keep working through villages. Weaver won’t be able to adapt to that world , they might lose their work pace. He’s not going to grow or anything is going to get lost in this world. He doesn’t know about this world. Yeah, like lots of people come and tell me we should do something for their welfare ,We should sell his stuff on website. I said Why will the Weaver sell his stuff? Weaver’s work is not to sell , his work is to weave .Our work is to sell , our work is to market, our work is to design. Weaver has to sit in his village and in his house and weave that’s it. Like in a factory, a factory worker is creating and working on a Machine, you are not going to promote that worker. You are going to market your product because you have the one who’s designed it.
Vanshaj – So, in the future how are you targeting to increase the amount of the work for the artisans ?
Gaurang – I keep adding artisans every day like, I said my designs keep on adding , we keep creating new designs every day, every day our target is to create five designs and sent to the artisans. So, automatically we have the new generation of weavers also coming in because they see the money they are with their family in the village, they are getting continuous work. Exactly, we have enough number of weavers to last for the next 20-30 years, no one is going to die nothing is going to die.
Vanshaj – In this tough situation during this time of pandemic hope they are getting enough ?
Gaurang – What happens there are two ways here, there are weavers who create something which is like produced every day. Okay, which is a very fast production, like plain material, small designer saris and all and there are another set of Weaver’s I work with which my my work is where each saree takes a year to two years to be. So this pandemic doesn’t affect that much.
Vanshaj – That’s great that’s nice to hear. So Gaurang would you like to add something to like the new researchers that how the upcoming India would be with these emerging artists and these emerging designs?
Gaurang – It is going to be great. You have more and more designers working with the Weavers. So it’s a great thing. Lots of new things are coming. People want to work with these people (Artisans), they want to work with Handloom industry. It’s going to be great.
Vanshaj – Yeah , that’s great. And I am very thankful to you for your time. I got to know very good insights from this discussion. Thank you so much.