NID helps Assam artisans brush up on their craft

In the past, to make strong bamboo and hyacinth furniture, artisans of Assam used nail at the joints. The metal nails caused fungus growth in the furniture and adversely affected the quality and sale of the product. Also, the dye the artisans used for the furniture was not attractive enough to lure buyers for the variety of purses, lamps, bags and furniture they made.

But a weeklong workshop at the National Institute of Design (NID)’s Paldi campus has taught them options, like using glue to join bamboo furniture rather than nails. It has also helped them brush up their skills in using colour dyes for their furniture.

Also, the 25-odd artisans (10 women and 15 men) from Assam have come to NID for a Design Development Training Workshop for Water Hyacinth. The workshop has been facilitated by the North-East Finance Development Corporation and NID’s Outreach Programme and will continue till November 16. This workshop aims to explore the great potential of water hyacinth in making an assortment of products. “We came to NID to learn how to make our products clean and neat. We leave with the best of tips.”

Ashim Kumar Das, assistant general manager at the North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd who conceived the plan of training artisans at NID said that by using the skills taught at NID, artisans’ productivity is going up and their income is improving.

“Earlier, they made one cap in four days. Now they make one cap in one and half days. Advantage of training them at NID is that experts here understand their needs and show them the right technique,” he said.

Senior Associate professor at NID, Prof YN Vivekananda who has been teaching the artisans, said that holding this workshop is an opportunity to explore new techniques and motivate the artisans.