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Crafting some new options
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Women from Raichur turn students as they learn how to make terracotta jewellery at the Vogue Institute
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new beginning Concentration is the key for these young women Photo: Murali Kumar K.
With some 500 students studying contemporary trends and techniques related to fashion, the Vogue Institute has now set aside some time for a more charitable venture. A 10-day summer workshop has involved training rural women from Raichur district in the art of making terracotta jewellery. When Father Maxim from the Raichur NGO Loyola Pragati Kendra approached the Vogue management after witnessing the results of an earlier such workshop, he found a willing partner and soon 10 women selected in twos from different villages in Raichur arrived in Bangalore.
The women, aged between 15 and about 25, sit in a silent circle in an upper floor of the Institute, concentrating on stringing together bits and pieces of clay, which will then be fired in a brick kiln before they are displayed at an exhibition announcing the workshop today. Creating these jewellery pieces is easy once you get the basics right; but "the hardest thing is to teach them how to make a design commercially viable," explains Mukund Katti, a Vogue faculty member conducting the workshop.
In their villages, the women work on their fields and although they have received some training in tailoring and welding, these haven't replaced the fieldwork they do. "This jewellery making is easy though," they say, piecing together the basic geometric shapes — squares/circles — that, in different combinations, make unusual, vibrant jewellery. Once mastered, they will return to their villages and teach the others how to do this. This particular group was selected on the basis of interest; these women volunteered and said they would like to learn this skill, after which their families agreed and the trip was finalised.
Developing skills
"They haven't really done this before," explains Mukund. "They have done some rangoli before though, and they are good with their hands. When the workshop first began they tried to use the implements we gave them but soon they were using their hands. They are good at making jowar rotis and rolling the dough out flat and these skills make it easier for them to learn to work with clay."
The youngest worker in this group of very young students is only 15 years old and agrees with the others that she wouldn't use any of the jewellery she's been so painstakingly crafting. Many of the pieces are large and daring with tiny stones or bright colours painted on to them; each very distinctive fashion statements in their own right.
Currently, as agricultural labourers, the women earn approximately between Rs. 8 to 10 per day but often not more than Rs. 500 per month on an average. The intent of this workshop is to equip them with a larger skill set for additional income — just a set of dangling ear-rings, for instance, might sell for Rs. 75, points out Mukund.
But while the skills might be easy enough to pick up, it's the actual access to the market and retailing the products that might be difficult. Even amongst the women at the workshop, some are highly skilled in the jewellery making while others are better at marketing, and the women say they will return to Bangalore to retail their products at any one of many accessories stores in the city.
Currently staying at Ashirwad on St. Marks Road, the girls don't seem fazed about returning to Bangalore to sell their pieces. What's planned for the future is some more interaction between women from rural Karnataka and students from the Vogue Institute who also learn the same skills in similar workshops, and hopefully an exchange programme to facilitate a sharing of experiences and learning.
The jewellery will be on display at the Rotary Hall on Lavelle Road from 9.45 to 11 a.m.
HEMANGINI GUPTA
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