“...there is a lot artists don’t know. They need to be aware of the current market, and we try to rectify that.” —Judy Frater
Asingle trip to Gujarat in 1970 (as a first-year college student) earned her two MAs based on the fieldwork that she did with artisans in Gujarat. With this as the beginning of her love affair with India, it was fait accompli that Judy Frater would settle in that state. In 1990, she received a Fulbright scholarship and a Ford grant, and left her job as associate curator of Eastern Hemisphere Textiles at The Textile Museum in Washington DC to come back to her adopted country.The Pennsylvania native then worked with local craftspeople till 2001, when the tragic Bhuj earthquake struck. Against this background, Frater developed the idea of Kala Raksha Vidhyalaya (KRV). This would be a school open to all artisans of the state, and would bring them up to speed with the challenges of selling to a modern consumer; a school that would teach artisans about keeping their product unique. Anju Modi collaborated with Frater on a fashion show by the students of KRV at Good earth in Mumbai last year, but their friendship stretches back many years. Modi interviews Frater on the importance of alleviating craftsmen to ensure the survival of their crafts. Anju Modi: Why Gujarat, Judy? Judy Frater: The amazing array of textiles. In Kutch, particularly. But I saw it becoming homogenised due to commercial activities, so I wanted to try something that put the artisans at the centre, rather than making them workers in their own traditions.
AM: Did that lead to the Kala Raksha Vidhyalaya? JF: It was something I had in mind for a long time. And it sort of got an opportunity to emerge after the Bhuj earthquake. An interviewer came up to me in the freezing cold early one morning—we were all camped out there—and he asked what I would like to see coming from this, and I said “a design school for artisans”. It seemed so logical that I figured somebody else would do it. But nobody was thinking on those lines. We were very lucky to get funding—well, I got the Ashoka Fellowship, which helped to develop the curriculum. I also got a UNESCO rank, which helped us start the school. It opened in 2005.
AM: What do you remember of that time? JF: What I am wearing right now is one of the first artisan’s designs, and I remember that he took the pilot course at KRV, but made a very horrible collection in bandhini. Little zodiac figures in tie-n-dye. For his final jury, we had professionals from various aspects of the craft industry, and they just trashed him. “What is this? Where is your tradition?” they asked. So he went home, thought about it, and came up with this range, black with red, minimal. Sometimes, that’s all you need. You don’t need to make great changes.
AM: What have you learnt from your experience of running KRV? JF: Going through the course year after year, we realised that there is a lot that artists don’t know. They need to be aware of the current market, and we try to rectify that. The artisans we work with are surface designers or textile designers. They are not product designers. So they need assistance with that.To try to turn them into product designers in a year or a couple of years is not realistic, so we collaborate with people who are experts, like you.
AM: Yes, it was a beautiful show. Do you think this is the way forward, partnering with designers and showing in cities?
JF: I think the craftwork can survive anywhere as long as decent remuneration is offered. But I think that traditional art and the creative spirit will survive only if we recognise artisans as creative artists rather than workers. To continue their art, artisans need to have opportunity for their creative expressions, to be paid more than wages of menial labour, and they need social recognition that is commensurate.
AM: And what is the best way, according to you, for them to ensure the future of their crafts and their families?
JF: They need to be more fully engaged as entrepreneurs. They need to learn design and business. At KRV, we teach those subjects, and encourage artisans to appreciate their traditions and preserve them, while each finding his or her individual voice. It is an arduous task, but creatively challenging. I believe that more variety of good work in the market will ensure increased sales. Everyone can win.