An Organisation of the Students of Delhi University to promote Art work : A new hope for the artisans of India (GS Paper1 : Art and Culture )

09 Oct An Organisation of the Students of Delhi University to promote Art work : A new hope for the artisans of India (GS Paper1 : Art and Culture )

Context : 

The students of the Delhi University ( SRCC college ) offer a beacon of hope for Indian artisans through the establishment of a non profitable organisation Collecting Dreams Foundation (CDF). The main function of this organisation will be the promotion of traditional art works . It is a  social initiative to conserve the environment, to promote artisans and many other social welfare works.  

Collecting Dreams Foundation (CDF)

• IT  is a non-profit foundation registered and licensed under section 8 of the Companies Act, 1956, Government of India, 

• One of the important objectives of this organisation is to create social entrepreneurship models and empower underprivileged women. 

• It  is a student-based initiative (mainly from Delhi University’s college SRCC) committed to initiate development of rural India and the marginalised people .   

• CDF-SRCC is a branch of the umbrella organisation- ‘Connecting Dreams Foundation’, It had been started its functioning from 2014 in the college and has been contributing  in elevating numerous lives since its beginning  

• There are 60 dedicated and enthusiastic individuals woring for this organisations and doing their best to uplift the status of the deprived rural people , mainly artisans

Project Rivaayat

• • Project Rivaayat is one of the important projects of this organisation . 

•  The word Rivaayat is an Urdu word  which means tradition or Parampara .  This project is promoting one the oldest art of the India  Terracotta Pottery. After globalisation The demand for homegrown arts and crafts has been continuously declining . Because of the technology and the demand of the market , handi craft of India , mainly rural India is tending towards its death 

• There are thousands of artisans in India who are skilled in various crafts. The work of this organisation is really commendable 

• Rivaayat is an initiative to revive the art of Terracotta pottery by creating the demand of the terracotta work , by creating direct market and by providing financial assistance to artisans, by organising many fairs related to handicraft , by eliminating the middlemen while connecting them with professional designers in order to modernise their existing designs.

• This organisation had collaboration with international market like  US, UK, and UAE. 

• It had established ecommerce platform for sell and purchase of such arts and collaborated with such e commerce platform like Amazon, Flipkart, Etsy, Gaatha,

• The products sold globally start at an affordable price of Rs 400. While the revenue received goes to the artisan, a small percent is also retained as operation cost. 

• Along with terracotta pottery, the project has also launched a new venture featuring basket weaving with water hyacinth, an aquatic weed that harms the aquatic ecosystem. Facilitated by a local NGO in Uttarakhand, Rivaayat has employed around 15 women artisans from five villages around Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh for this venture.

• Quoting their mentor Giriraj Prasad, Mondal concludes, “Man is mortal, art forms are immortal,” which highlights full circle what Keats tried to achieve with his poem. 

• Rivaayat’s project then becomes a beacon of hope for all artisans around India and helps revive our age-old heritage arts and crafts.