Craft innovation
Innovation is about finding a better way of doing something. Innovation can be viewed as the application of better solutions that meet new requirements, in-articulated needs, or existing market needs. A definition consistent with these aspects would be the following: “An innovation is something original, new, and important in whatever field that breaks in to a market or society”. Craft innovation is all about bringing about innovation in the field of craft. Why is craft innovation required? The traditional craft practices in India are embedded with an inherent empirical knowledge. This knowledge encompasses not only the material understanding and skills of making but also holds a holistic and intuitive understanding of sustainability in the larger context. This understanding needs to be put to use for a purpose that will bring forth various crafts from the remotest corners of our country and make them contextual to the present day. This can be achieved through the process of craft innovation. The intent is to bring innovation in Space Making Crafts (SMC), Surface Narrative Crafts (SNC) and Crafts related to interior architecture. Our country’s architectural heritage is full of such innovations concerning material usage and its application. The objective of DICRC has been to bring craft innovation in larger interior architectural applications today with
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craft innovation training toolkit
collaborative co-creations between various peer groups. How is craft innovation possible? In order to achieve craft innovation, it is important that there is collaboration between craftspeople, designers, artists, technologists, entrepreneurs etc who will come together and develop the existent crafts in such a way that they can be contextualized to current needs. Collaboration can also take place with industries, organizations, small and medium enterprises, government associations etc. The craft is no longer seen as something that is ancient and primitive but something that is at par with modern day machine made products. DICRC always indulges in the process of ‘Co-creation’ by bringing experts from field of Craft, Design, Architecture, Entrepreneurship, Industry, Marketing, and Government in order to promote the field of Craft, for Craft Innovation. The intention of Craft Innovation at DICRC is to develop “Innovation in Craft’ and ‘Innovation through Craft”. ‘Innovation in craft’ refers to bringing about innovation in craft in terms of product, material, system etc. Product intervention can be driven through intervention by designers, material innovation is achieved through material
