The Divided Art

Presented at Design History Society 2014 Annual Conference

LOCATION
Kutch, gujarat, india

ROLE
researcher

THE CHALLENGE

Collect stories from craftsmen about the impact of India-Pakistan Partition on the crafts of Kutch region of India.

THE IMPACT

Creating a collection of oral stories to illustrate the evolution of Kutchhi crafts and craftsmen’s lives.

Research background

India and Pakistan have been going through constant socio-political changes or years. On one hand several efforts have been made to bring a positive change between the countries, on the other hand negativities have lingered in the borders too. This research is an effort to understand how the partition of India-Pakistan affected the crafts of India over the years. 

Partition divided not only the people, but also their crafts, their techniques and their style of working. Accounts of the partition fail to mention this crucial aspect of the lives of those who lost their past in order to pursue their future. The field visit focused on the loss of creativity and identity that the craftsmen of India went through during the partition. I tried to understand the distance between craft and design through the experiences of craftsmen and observations of scholars. It was essential to start connecting dots between design, craft and history to understand the complexities and relation of the three.

The primary focus of this research were oral histories, which let me focus on the humane perspective of the divide. Many treat oral histories as unreliable, but I questioned if the stories of these craftsmen have the power to change the outlook of people in India towards their nations’ cultural heritage and its history.

This research project was an attempt to understand and answer questions through the oral and written records of those who hold the knowledge and experience of partition.