RESEARCH PROJECTS
Poornima massaging ash water into cow dung treated yarn, Kotpad, 2023
The Kotpad Project
ISTITUTO MARANGONI LONDON X ISTITUTO MARANGONI MUMBAI
X CREATIVE BEE X KOTPAD DYERS AND WEAVERS
HOW MIGHT INTERNATIONAL DESIGN SCHOOLS HELP TO PRESERVE AND PROMOTE TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS?
A one-year collaborative project, between Istituto Marangoni Mumbai, Istituto Marangoni London, Hyderabad-based Creative Bee, and the dyeing and weaving artisans of Kotpad has begun. Kotpad is a predominantly tribal village in a remote region of Odisha, India, close to the border with Chhattisgarh. The scope of the project has been agreed and the initial fact-finding stage completed. IMM and IML were invited into the collaboration by Creative Bee, who have worked with the Kotpad artisans for many years. The Kotpad artisans face multiple challenges in continuing their ancient and distinctive craft: the women produce a beautiful, natural, dark red dye from the roots of the aal tree; the men weave complex and symbolic patterns and motifs, using the historic practice of pit-loom weaving.
Lalita Samrat dyeing cotton with aal, Kotpad, 2023
Master weaver Jagabandhu Samrat, Kotpad 2023
Aal-dyed cotton yarn drying, Kotpad, 2023
A traditional Kotpad shawl, Kotpad 2023
PROJECT PLANNING
CONTEXT
Western fashion exemplifies a particular paradigm of modernity that has been imposed on non-Western clothing cultures, undermining local expressions and systems of fashion and thus leading to what has been termed as ‘fashion sacrifice zones’ (Niessen, 2020: 864, Escobar, 2018, Cheang et al, 2021, Torretta and Reistma, 2019). Fashion sacrifice zones are cultures whose identity – as expressed through clothing and/or specific materials and techniques - has become obscured or even erased (directly or indirectly) by Western fashion (Niessen, 2020: 864). Consequently, the textile traditions of Kotpad are endangered: there are now only a small number of people left with the knowledge and skill to continue this sustainable textile practice.
KOTPAD VIDEO
THE PROJECT
IML and IM Mumbai are documenting the histories, value chain, materials, processes and products created by the Kotapd artisans, producing a documentary and a coffee table book, as well as supporting them with product development for the sustainable luxury market, through student projects and tutor engagement. From a research perspective, the project provides an important lens through which to examine the complex issues that are effectively strangling this indigenous textile culture and will try to develop a good practice model for supportive intervention. A recent field trip to Kotpad by Mevin Murden from IM Mumbai and Kirsten Scott from IML included a film crew and photographer, as well as Bina Rao from Creative Bee. Multiple interviews were conducted with the aal-dyers and with the weavers, as well as with the youth in the community and other stakeholders, with extensive documentation of their processes and the socio-cultural-environmental factors that are impacting these. The team included Saloni Lakhia, from the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, who did an initial needs assessment and will coordinate with stakeholders to propose capacity-building programmes for the community in literacy, numeracy, entrepreneurship, IT skills and e-commerce.
CHALLENGES IDENTIFIED
NEXT STEPS
Students and tutors at IML will draw on the field research and on consultation with Creative Bee and the artisans of Kotpad to develop a series of interventions that aim to support the preservation of the craft in the short-medium term. In stage 1, we visited Kotpad and carefully documented materials, people, place, processes and products; delivered some initial training on e-commerce and social media, as well as on packaging and branding that may help to emphasise the incredible luxury of this endangered craft and help to attract a higher price point. The most pressing needs - identified by the artisans and by Creative Bee - are to record all processes so there is a detailed record for posterity, and then to support the artisans in finding new markets for their work. Business students at IMM have created a logo for the Kotpad artisans and set up their instagram account @purushottam_kotpad. In stage 2, textile design students in Mumbai are developing textile designs within parameters set by the artisans; fashion design students in Mumbai and London are creating small collections using Kotpad fabrics; MA Buying students in London are developing range plans for commercially viable clothing using Kotpad fabrics. A team of film makers and photographers from Mumbai are creating a docufilm on the processes, and a beautiful, illustrated book will be published about the artisans and their work, to raise awareness.
REFERENCES
Cheang, S., De Greef, E. and Takagi, Y. (2021). Rethinking Fashion Globalization. London: Bloomsbury Visual Arts.
Escobar, A. (2018). Designs for the Pluriverse: Radical Interdependence, Autonomy, and the Making of Worlds. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press
Niessen, S. (2020). ‘Fashion, its Sacrifice Zone, and Sustainability’. Fashion Theory, 24(6), 859-877
Torretta, N. B., & Reitsma, L. (2019). ‘Design, power and colonisation: decolonial and antioppressive explorations on three approaches for Design for Sustainability’. Proceedings of the Academy for Design Innovation Management Conference 2019. Retrieved on December 2, 2023, from https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-161779
Yin, R. (2018). Case Study Research and Applications: Design and Methods. London: Sage Publications Ltd.