Crafts today remain one of the greatest of the subcontinent’s influences over contemporary life with itsenduring traditions interacting with the influences and demands of the modern-day. Rooted in a many millennia old civilization craftspeople and transmitters across India continue to respond to the social, economic, cultural and ritual needs of society. Their knowledge and skill spanninga landscape that has been bound together and shaped by shared histories.
With an inter-generational transfer of skills, of knowledge and of lore the crafts and craftspeople have evolved, adapting to circumstance and history, to bio-diversity, to cultural needs, to geography and climate change. All while remaining respectful of the planets dwindling resources through their use of indigenous, ecologically viable and waste-free technologies.
True craftsmanship continues to mean more than technical virtuosity. It is a profound understanding of materials, and of the tools that fashion materials. It drives an individual to craft and weave as well as can be done – beyond what is required and beyond economic considerations of reward. This impulse, which lies at the heart of craftsmanship, is the rare cult of excellence. It is this impulse which has through history led to the perpetuation of the great traditions of craftsmanship and the rich storehouse of knowledge and skill that are listed here with its continuing impact on our interconnected and interdependent world.