Session 17 summary
Community Development through Design
‘The Idea is not to live forever but to create something that will. This quotation has greatly inspired Juhi, as she tries to start every session with it.
Juhi’s journey began with an export house, where she came to know that design does not only create the product but also other things. She was there for 7 years and got a lot of exposure. Afterward she worked in the mainstream industry, a sampling market in Bombay with 60 members. But only 5-6 members were chosen to move to Bangalore, others were left as the company was shut down. But she chose not to go to Bangalore and took it upon herself to place everyone somewhere. She tried freelance and also asked NIFT for teaching faculty. But as Bombay is costly, so moved to Goa and came to realize that the makers are the most marginalized, be it in the city or the villages. Soon she discovered Tara Trust who help fund children. Together with them she did the ‘1000 crane project’, to encourage children to know about natural disasters. The 1000 crane story is about Sadako, who after being diagnosed with leukemia, folded origami paper cranes in hope of making a thousand of them. She was inspired to do so by the Japanese legend that one who created a thousand origami cranes would be granted a wish. Her wish was simply to live through her disease. The story greatly inspired the project. They had tried this in Ladakh but then what would the children do with so many paper cranes, so they donated clothes. With Tara Trust they bought T-Shirts, painted cranes on them and sent them to Japan, for the Tsunami victims. They decided that if they are going to make a story then they should do 1000 T-shirts. Levis provided the T-shirts, with whom they had lot of back and forth conversations. There were many problems but as a designer one should learn how to find solution. They received paints and brushes which were donated. They then went to schools, shared the story of 1000 cranes with the students and let them paint their interpretation on the T-shirts. A friend in Japan would be distributing them. So the T-shirts were sent with the help of someone who paid for the shipping expense. When the T-shirts reached Japan, it took on a new form and the friend wanted to tell this story/ journey of T-shirts so they were shared in three exhibitions. The T-shirts finally reached their destination- the orphans of Tsunami. One does not always need money to do a project, one needs to be resourceful and everything would work out if the intention is good.
She was asked to be a part of Khamir, as it needed a director, so she went there. There she wanted it become a space to live, learn and be inclusive. The agencies, usually, were the facilitators, who were empowered and the owners. She wanted to live on the campus to understand the place and people better. It helped her to have a deeper understanding of the practice of craft. The place taught her how important the natural resources are for the craft practises, usually everything is available in that place so there is no need for anything else. Juhi states that we need to celebrate the materials, create platforms and give opportunities to the designers/ artisans in places like these.
There was another project, an exchange project with studio from Wales. If they came and learn from local artisans, then they should also go to Wales. Rajiben was one of the participants whose works depicts her life through colours. Champa, another participant created her work with the help of lot of photo references she took of white desert. Juhi’s wish is to listen to the communities – be their eyes.
In Nila House, they commissioned artists as textile designers- it was a platform for artisans. Currently, she is working with Khadi India in the North-eastern region.
With so many projects, Juhi has learnt that once your work is done you must move on.
About the Speaker
Juhi Pandey
Textile Designer
Shillong
Meghalaya
Juhi Pandey is an alumna of NID-Ahmedabad and NIFT-Chennai with a career in textile design spanning over two decades, in the industry, the social and craft sector. Juhi is currently in Shillong in Meghalaya to set up the Center of Excellence for Khadi for the North East, which is a collaborative project between NIFT- Delhi and Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
