From the Tree of Life: A design collaboration with craft artisans in India

From the Tree of Life

Here in the Philippines, we grow up deeply appreciating the coconut.  It is the tree of life...and even now, we keep finding new ways to use this resource.  On my recent trip to Orissa, India, I found that they also utilize the coconut in many different ways.  Especially in the craft sector.  Just in our pata chitra class, the paint was mixed inside coconut shells.  One thing that I like about India is that in that land, they mince no words in using natural materials for everyday use.  They even make craft art out of cow dung!  I imagine that when the world markets were making a big fuzz over recycling, Indians paused and said, "Oh, you mean that thing we've been doing for a long time now?"

During my stay at the Raghurajpur Heritage Village for the artist exchange (RIACE), I came in contact with the Dedicated to People NGO (www.dedicatedtopeople.in).  The NGO represented craft artists/artisans who lived in the more remote areas, hence needed help getting access to market.  They worked with many different materials.  If funding weren't an issue, I would have really liked to make something with buffalo horns.  But with the time constraint and all, we decided to work with coconut shells.

"From the Tree of Life" is a neckpiece of custom-designed beads made with coconut shells.  Later on in my stay in Bhubaneswar, I worked a photo series around this piece entitled "Craft is Life" (that's for a separate blog post).  I am proud of this neckpiece - it is my first design collaboration with any foreign artisan.  A mem'rable experience.

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Another design collaboration, this time with an artisan from Indonesia: http://wearmesa.blogspot.com/2013/06/auma-design-collaboration.html