Design and dignity – how Project Tarasha empowers rural craftpreneurs
In this photo essay from the Bangalore International Centre, we showcase rural crafts and entrepreneurs along with founder insights.
Launched in 2014, PhotoSparks is a weekly feature from YourStory, with photographs that celebrate the spirit of creativity and innovation. In the earlier 835 posts, we featured an art festival, cartoon gallery. world music festival, telecom expo, millets fair, climate change expo, wildlife conference, startup festival, Diwali rangoli, and jazz festival.
An outstanding exhibition and workshop series is being hosted at the Bangalore International Centre (BIC) this week, by Project Tarasha. See our coverage of earlier exhibitions from the past five years at BIC here.
Project Tarasha is a collaborative social initiative by Titan Company Limited and Creative Dignity, with the aim of empowering rural craftpreneurs to create sustainable craft businesses in modern markets. It was launched in 2022 during the pandemic to support craft communities that were on the brink of losing their livelihoods during the extended lockdowns.
“At the heart of Project Tarasha are year-long, tailor-made interventions designed for craft entrepreneurs, involving designers, mentors, and diverse collaborators,” project lead Ritika Gandhi tells YourStory.
The craftpreneurs work across a wide range of mediums and materials: stone, wood, banana fiber, bullrush, water hyacinth, paper, glass, copper, silver, fabric, leather, and recycled materials. There are also miniature painting artists, handwoven carpet makers, jewellers, and toymakers.
The project’s interventions are uniquely curated for each participant, reflecting their individual needs and aspirations. “The diversity of crafts, regions, practices, languages, and maturity levels adds layers of complexity to the project, making it both dynamic and enriching,” Gandhi adds.
The collaborative partner for this noble initiative is Creative Dignity, which helps artisans thrive and flourish with tools like digital media. The exhibition celebrates one year of the featured craftpreneurs’ journey.
The four-day event includes workshops on sohrai painting, kite-making, banjara embroidery, and crafts with bulrushes. There are also panels on craft appreciation and sustainability of handmade products.
One of the highlights at the BIC event was a 90-minute performance by acclaimed folk-rock band Swarathma. They composed specially-curated songs for Tarasha 2025, in Hindi, Kannada and Tamil.
With a blend of genres and contemporary themes, the band’s infectious energy had the audience on their feet. Spearheaded by singer-songwriter-guitarist Vasu Dixit, the musicians celebrated the resilience and creativity of India’s artisans.
Project Tarasha (which means ‘sculptured’ in Sanskrit) provides craft practitioners with support via design mentoring, creative collaborations, market access, product innovation, and online enhancement. Outcomes include enterprise development and enhanced livelihoods.
A wide range of traditional and tribal art forms are supported: Patachittra, Mithila, Pipli, Gond, Sohrai, Lambani, Kavad, and Tolpava Koothu. Many artisans also work with dhurrie rugs, ajrakh prints, crewel, and dhokra metal.
The core values of Project Tarasha are equity, transparency, co-creation, eco-consciousness, and openness. Participants benefit from capacity building in areas like inventory management, B2B and B2C marketing, and ecommerce.
In this three-part photo essay, we feature the works of Davalupa Satapute, Sheshadeb Sahu, Luhar Javed, Brajbhooshan Dhurwe, Preeti Das, Avdhesh Karn, Sakur Luhar, Khetaram Sumra, Ranjit Rana, Rohit Rathod, Touseef Mian, Vishwanath Aundhakar, Rajib Maiti, Kamlesh Parmar, Dhuli Katara, Sindhe Siva, and Sandeep Dhurve.
The initiative’s work holds particular importance in light of the fact that an estimated 200 million people in India are directly or indirectly linked to the crafts sector. With large participation of women, such handmade production is a major means of dignified employment for rural communities.
“Project Tarasha provides each craft entrepreneur with two years of dedicated support. This empowers them to grow sustainably and thrive in their journey as craft practitioners,” Gandhi signs off.
Now what have you done today to pause in your busy schedule and harness your creative side for a better world?
Swarathma
(All photographs were taken by Madanmohan Rao on location at BIC.)