Skill up-gradation workshop for the wood carving artisans

Artisans need to hone and up-grade their skills from time to time to keep up with these competitive times where the customers need new and innovative designs & products every day!

Keeping this in mind, SETU organized a 10-days skill up-gradation workshop for our wood carving artisans, between the period of 2nd March to 12th March 2015 at Kajiwala village in U.P. The workshop is a part of the long term objective of SETU to achieve artisan development by upgrading their skills, teaching them new product processes and helping the artisans to make innovative designs marketable in the international market, thus providing them with better and sustainable livelihood opportunities.

 Objectives of the workshop:

• To improve quality of work of the wood carving artisans.
• Introducing the artisans to new processes and skills.
• Encouraging the young artisans to practice ancestral art forms and adopt the crafts as a source of livelihood by providing training for the same.
• To develop multiple craftsmanship among artisans.
• To develop marketable products and designs to ensure long term sustainable livelihood.
• Preserving the traditional Indian art form of wood carving by hand.

In the workshop, artisans were trained to make a variety of product designs & art forms like different designs of eyeglass holders, box carving, cutwork, different games & puzzle boxes, jewelry stands etc…

A total of 5 experienced & skilled trainers from diversified art forms were selected for the workshop so that they could provide training for different type of skills.

In order to help the artisans financially and to motivate them, the trainee artisans were also provided with stipend for the workshop. A total of 20 young artisans received training. The entire workshop was quite successful as the leader of the artisan group said that earlier due to lack of skilled artisans they were facing poor quality production, unable to create new designs and non-motivated artisans, but now; after the workshop it has become much easier to do the work as the artisans have learned new product designs and latest skills in the workshop. He observes a fresh zeal among the artisans now!