French expats start Mad Community to help Indian artisans

Khimji bhai Vankar and his family of 15 members from

Bhujodi

village near

Kutch

have been hand weaving shawls for the past 25 years. But heartbreakingly, the traditional art found no takers as the rise in demand for fashionable and trendy weaves gathered steam. Unable to fight this battle, the family that once ran a booming business faced a major financial crisis. It was only six months ago that French expats

Amanda Hinshelwood

and

Lucas Rousseau

approached them and helped them find a foothold again.

Amanda and Lucas who moved to Pune to find jobs three years ago, decided to give it all up and start a project to help artisans who can showcase their work mainstream. The duo, who are in their late 20s started a group called the Mad Community. “We were keen to promote the work of people who we met during our travel across India and whose work and dedication touched us. We decided to stand up and defend those dedicated to save Indian crafts,” says Amanda who has a background in product design architecture. The two have been travelling across the country to reach out to artisans who are unable to sustain their business. “We aim at promoting their techniques and help them carry forward their legacy,” she adds.

Working with about 200 craftsmen and artisans in remote villages of Maharashtra, Kutch, Kashmir and Pondicherry, Amanda and Lucas are just back from Kashmir where they spent quality time to understand the

Gujjar

tribe’s works. “This community from the mountains is a nomadic shepherd tribe which comes down from the mountain to spend the winter in the valley. We also witnessed the work of the Bakarwals, another nomadic tribe from the same region, who traditionally embroider cement bags. We are now working on products with them,” shares Amanda.

Lucas and Amanda along with the designers spent time within the tribes and communities, identifying techniques and crafts to save and work together on the products so they can finally meet new markets. “We want designers to assist the artisans, not replace them. Our artisans will always have their word to say,” adds Lucas. The artisans are also taught computers and are given information about environment friendly fibres and natural dye.

The French expats are keen to increase their Mad Community with like-minded people help artisans in India and are now looking at crowd funding. “We’ve given up our lives in France to move to India and be as close as possible to our craftsmen. We have now crowdfunded the project.” said Lucas.

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