The weaving business has been hit badly by Covid-19, with orders dwindling and unsold stock getting piled up. With less orders, weavers are suffering a lot due to paucity of money. All the looms are not being operated due to this reason. Weavers have been unable to see what they had woven before lockdown as well.
“We work with a cluster of 55 weavers and 8 master weavers in Chanderi. Over the past 6 months, only three looms have been partially active with a few orders. The rest have not sold a single piece as there is no demand. They have not received any payments for the stock they produced earlier either as there are seemingly no buyers,” says Bharathy Harish, coordinator of Madhurya Creations, a revival initiative for rare traditional Indian weaves and crafts.
But there is a ray of hope in the form of ‘online festivals’ being curated to showcase their work and help them make up for the loss in absence of retail markets. These festivals are also becoming an important platform to connect the weavers, craftsmen, designers, social media influencers and buyers alike through the medium of storytelling.
One such initiative is the House of Heritage, an online initiative by Madhurya Creation along with celebrity stylist Ami Patel, who has worked with ace Bollywood actors including Alia Bhatt, Priyanka Chopra, Kangna Ranaut, among others.
Apart from hosting a high-end visual display of curated collection by celebrity influencers, the festival that runs from 17th October to 8th November, will also see interactive workshops with the master craftsmen, weavers, artisans who will share the intriguing history behind their weaves and styles, the story of their own lives and the efforts being made to keep this traditional diversity from dying out.