Gond, Madhubani, Chamba Roomal, Pattachitra, Kantha…….art
forms I barely knew about…..what states are they from ? what is unique about
them? more importantly what are the statistics - the number of artists, their financial condition and their marketing
reach ? I had several questions…… I looked up google but didn’t find much data,
why not? Its Diwali and my home is flooded by beautiful expensive gifts, very
few Diwali gifts or decorations have any form of tribal/ indian art, why not?
Till we don’t have a corporate approach to tribal art, we
cannot do justice to this important part of our economy and culture. Think of how a corporate plans a new brand
launch, there is 1) buzz and awareness created around it 2) who is the target
audience 3) what is the packaging, colors that will sell most 4) business plan
supported by adequate market research 5) brainstorming sessions around price
points and then the final launch with all the fanfare with the target audience.
This is the kind of organized effort needed for tribal art
if we want it to be “scalable and sustainable” part of India, below are some
thoughts
1.
Business Development and Marketing to promote
exports
a.
Neiman Marcus, Bloomigdales, Saks all have an
organized procurement section. Can a central agency connect with these and
figure out what are the “handmade” items that can be stocked & sold? Pashmina
shawls have done well abroad, what about kantha or madhubani scarves? Kolhapuri
chappals with heels that my US cousins buy by the dozen when they visit?
Copper/ Tambat water jugs that can be marketed for their medicinal values? Penholders
with warli? Lovely wooden candy boxes with hand carving? What are the items we
can supply and what are the price points these stores need?
b.
Many jewellery brands from India have done so
well gloabally like my friends who started Isharya (Gauri & Radhika Tandon)
and En Inde (Sonal Sood). Very often they are featured in Vogue and Hello in
india and also abroad with celebrities wearing their jewellery, wouldn’t it be
wonderful to have these celebrities and magazines do a photo shoot with
scarves, jackets, home décor items with our Indian art. Can we market and
create more buzz globally?
2.
Marketing in India -These artists typically have
stalls at government organized trade fairs which are not advertised well, have
very low footfall and the few that buy bargain and pay 20- 30% of the original prices
quoted by the artists. Aren’t the government funds and efforts better utilized
towards creating & funding an online store for this and then promoting and
marketing it? There are chains like Good Earth and Either Or (Pune by my friend
Ritika Tickoo) doing a great job of promoting these arts, but can we have more
such chains and wider range of items?
3.
How are we leveraging Indian tourism and
integrating Indian art into the “Incredible India” experience. When I travelled
to Jaipur, my hotel store did not do justice to the Rajasthani art forms, I was
taken by my taxi driver to a store where I was ripped off as a tourist and
realized that I paid 3 times the real price. How can this be promoted and sold in
an organized and credible manner to the tourists who are eager to learn more
about our culture?
4.
Has a focussed effort been made by the art ngos
to tap into the 2% CSR mandate that corporates have? Delhi Crafts Council that
my friend Radhika Bharat Ram so passionately works with, has done an incredible
job in reviving the Chamba Roomal, how many of us know about this ngo and
support it through our 2% CSR?
Finally, I never studied or learned all
these art forms in school, cant we teach this to our children? instil awareness and pride in their hearts
about our rich indian heritage? Even if 1% of the youth gets inspired and takes
this up as a career option or as a social responsibility, maybe this industry
will get the place of pride it truly deserves!!
