Conservation of Traditional Arts, Crafts

and culture Heritage, Tatas Way

By India CSR Network - April 1, 2017

Photo Credit: Tata Group

India CSR News Network

MUMBAI: The conservation efforts of various Tata companies and Tata Trusts in wildlife, the
environment and ecology, and art and culture have spawned multi-hued programmes and
projects that deliver tangible results in different regions and among different communities.
The article explains where and how these initiatives have taken root.

“Without culture and the relative freedom it implies, society, even when perfect, is but a
jungle. This is why any authentic creation of art is a gift to the future.” The meaning of these
words said by Albert Camus, the Algerian-French writer and philosopher, are clear, as is the
vitality that the freedoms fuelled by art and culture bring, the bonding between people that
they encourage, and the awe they can evoke in human beings of disparate ethnicities and
upbringing.

The magical is ever-present in all great art and the cultures from which they spring. Much
less ubiquitous is the understanding, the backing and the encouragement required to
ensure that such magic is not lost to future generations through neglect and apathy. This is
a real concern as the march of modernity continues. It is the spur for initiatives such as those
pursued with fervour by different Tata organisations in a wide range of areas — the
conservation of traditional arts and crafts, the restoration of architectural showpieces and
the revival of institutions and forms of music.

Tata and Tribal Art

Photo: Tata Group TRIBAL INSTINCT
Tata Steel, Jharkhand and Odisha, India

Set up by Tata Steel in 1993, the Tribal Culture Society has been working to revive and
preserve the traditions and ethos of the many tribal communities living near and about its
facilities in Jharkhand and Odisha in eastern India. The society’s efforts take in the
conservation of tribal cultural traditions in language, music and sport (see Tradition and the
past get a timely boost on page 94) as also generating livelihood opportunities for
tribespeople. The company supports a Tribal Culture Centre that promotes tribal handicrafts
and lifestyle tools, and it hosts Samvaad, an annual gathering of tribal communities
from across India. Seen at right and below are images from the opening of Samvaad 2016
and, on the previous page, are members of the Rathwa tribe from Gujarat, India, performing
at the festival.

HISTORY IN THE HISTORY IN THE HERITAGE

HERITAGE Tata Trusts, Delhi, Hyderabad and Manipal, India

Photo: Tata Group

Helping with the conservation and restoration of historic
monuments and places has been a constant theme with
Tata Trusts. Under its conservation programme, it provides backing in protecting and
preserving monuments and other historic treasures, and in enhancing public use of and
access to the cultural heritage of the land. Support of the kind has bene ted the restoration
of the 16th century tomb of Mughal emperor Humayun in Delhi, the conservation of the
Qutb Shahi Heritage Park in Hyderabad, and the creation of the Manipal Heritage Village
(above).

SOUNDS OF TRADITION
Tata Trusts, Ahmedabad and Kutch, India

SOUNDS OF TRADITION Music has been a pillar of India’s cultural heritage and

Photo: Tata Group

traditional performing arts are a crucial part of that ethos.
These arts have suffered a loss in popularity and patronage
as new media and newer forms of entertainment
strengthen their hold on the mass culture. The performing arts programme of Tata Trusts
supports artistes in traditional musical forms, in dance and theatre. Examples include the
effort to revive the musical traditions of the Kutch region and for the Saptak School of Music
in Ahmedabad in Gujarat.

NO FADING AWAY NO FADING AWAY

Photo: Tata Group

Tata Trusts, Chennai and Kolkata, India
 The upkeep of culturally vital documents and manuscripts is
a lesser-known part of Tata Trusts’ conservation agenda. This
is especially important in the context of India, a country that seems to have a disregard for
preserving written records of the past in good order. It’s a reality that is changing, though,
with of cial agencies and entities such as Tata Trusts coming together to restore and
safeguard texts and scripts from down the ages. Initiatives by the Trusts in this sphere
include the digitisation of research resources at Jadavpur University in Kolkata; the ‘Mewar
manuscript pilot conservation project’, under which a 17th-century manuscript of the Hindu
epic Ramayana was restored; and the digitisation of material in the Roja Muthiah Research
Library in Chennai, which has some 300,000 volumes of Tamil books, journals and
newspapers.

THEATRE OF SKILLS THEATRE OF SKILLS

Photo: Tata Group

GREATER SAGE GROUSE
Titan Company, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, India
Tata Chemicals North America, Wyoming, USA

Titan Company has since inception tried to connect with the community in meaningful ways
through well-conceptualised initiatives in different areas. In conservation, it has been
providing support in reviving the traditional craft of hand embroidery as practised in the
Dharmapuri district of Tamil Nadu and in promoting theatre as an art form in a programme
spread across Karnataka. In the Dharmapuri project, rural women have been encouraged —
through an artisans’ association — to bring alive once again the exquisite skill of hand
embroidery. The objective of the theatre initiative Ranga Shankara is to propagate the art
form among the young through a slew of methods and programmes.

CRAFTING A FUTURE CRAFTING A FUTURE

Photo: Tata Group

Tata Trusts, across India

The crafts sector is the largest source of employment in

India after agriculture, providing jobs to more than 7 million families. The future is bleak for
these families, grappling as they are with problems of access to customers and a limited
ability to make high-quality, market-driven artefacts and sundry products. The crafts-based
livelihood programme of Tata Trusts is
geared to tackle such issues by reviving languishing crafts and through pilot design projects,
quality control, use of technology and the linking of artisans with domestic and export
markets. The knowledge gained by way of the pilot models will be used to set up craft
design and innovation hubs that can provide multiple inputs to craft communities.
The backing extended by Tata Trusts to tribal communities in the Dokra clusters of South
Odisha exempli es the approach to reviving the traditions of crafts while linking these to
income generation. Arming these communities with the marketing and design capabilities
necessary to supplement their metal craft skills is one objective here. The Dokra artisans live
in remote areas. Distance from market makes them highly dependent on traders, dims their
negotiation power and, consequently, drives them away from a skill handed down through
the generations. Tata Trusts is looking to change this situation by equipping artisans with
comprehensive marketing linkages, design capabilities, training and technology support.
Crucially, the goal is to make the programme self-sustaining in the longer run.

MUSIC AS ELIXIR
Tata Capital, India

MUSIC AS ELIXIR Tata Capital has thrown its weight behind helping Indian

Photo: Tata Group

classical music ourish in the mainstream space. A
component of the company’s Do Right initiative, this effort
involves supporting musicians and musical traditions. Under
the programme, established as well as budding musicians are provided a platform to
showcase their talent. Among the famous artists who have been part of the programme are
Zakir Hussain, Amjad Ali Khan, Vikku Vinayakram, Shankar Mahadevan and Shivkumar
Sharma and his son, Rahul (seen below on left with his father).

A WEAVE IN TIME
Tata Trusts, Madhya Pradesh, India

A WEAVE IN TIME India’s handloom census of 1995-96 counted 6.5 million

Photo: Tata Group

people engaged in weaving and allied activities. This
number declined to 4.3 million in the census of 2009-10,
revealing an exodus that is worrying as much as saddening.
Tata Trusts-supported Handloom School in Maheshwar (in the Khargone district of Madhya
Pradesh) is an effort to stop a slide that has seen the country losing a multitude of handloom
weavers to menial occupations, not to mention the erosion of a rich and unique handloom
tradition.

The school is an ‘entrepreneur incubator for young weavers’, the rst of its kind in India. It is
focused on equipping young weavers with skills and experiences — in design, in marketing
and nance, and in weaving — that can make them successful entrepreneurs.

(This has been rstly covered in Tata Review, January-March 2017**, for our readers and
wider social bene t, we are publishing it with due credit to Tata Review. In the rst article
we have covered Tata initiatives on environment and ecological conservation. (Editor)
(Editor)

Also Read: Safeguarding natural ecosystems, Tatas Way

Also Read: To Preserve and Protect: Tatas Way of wildlife, environment and ecology
conservation

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