Crafty Tales

One brave woman’s unconventional career path and her vision to make a difference with her work. Designer and proud owner of Sanchali, Dakshyani Gowda’s story is one worth telling.As a child Dakshyani Gowda saw her grandmother dabble in the crafts with leftover seeds, textiles and twigs. This recycling practice would go on to sow the seed of traditional arts and crafts in the future designer.

Today, Dakshyani dons many hats: a designer, museologist, archeologist and creative entrepreneur. Her pursuit of the traditional arts and crafts led her to go after sculpting at the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat in Bangalore. However, when she didn’t get her chosen specialization at the Maharaja Sayajirao University in Baroda, the designer pursued double masters degree in museology and archaeology. Never intending to make a career out of these unconventional vocations, her passion as well as her education became a strong foundation for her organization Sanchali in 2008.

Reminiscing about how it all began, Dakshyani quips, “After my stint with an architecture firm as an artist, I worked with NGOs as a designer and project manager for their social projects which involved training men and women in the rural areas on local crafts. I realized how wonderfully gifted they were and learnt techniques like bead making and fabric dyeing from them.” This helped establish Sanchali, which means movement in Sanskrit. It was founded with an idea to explore and revive ingenious crafts and create a livelihood for people living in remote villages through sustainable design interventions.

Dakshyani spent almost a year training women on finishing and the quality standards required. She started working with ladies in a village near Bangalore and taught them embroidery and stitching, recycling textile to make accessories and objects. Over the years, the designer has found that the process of communication and administration has become easier but that never stopped her from carrying out quality checks at every stage of production.

Dakshyani travels often and hence to make the production process more effective, she introduced a new communication module. In addition to providing her employees with computer tablets, they are also trained to use technology like Whatsapp, Skype, etc. This has helped them over and above their professional roles.

Dakshyani designs all her creations — from products like jewellery, bags and clothes to lamps and murals, and even installations for institutions and residential buildings. Laced in history and tradition, each item has a connection to the present as they are created for contemporary times. For instance, the Indus Valley collection comprises wall hangings, pottery, toys, clothing, etc made from terracotta, stone, shell and textile. The organic lamps series (made with rags of silk and brocade) is designed for spaces like galleries, shops and residential houses.

Apart from attempting to revive traditional Indian art forms through various products, Sanchali works towards shattering the stuffy image of museum-learning by taking that experience to a more public domain. The organization conducts workshops in both rural and urban areas with a mission that every school should have a space where students can touch and engage with artifacts so as to be involved with museum development. It educates the children about the Indus Valley civilization through arts and crafts. In the process, Daksha creates sculptures with the kids using traditional techniques and conducts interactive workshops and treasure hunts. This helps the little ones in getting involved in the whole process as well as truly learning about the subject.

Though Sanchali is largely a self-funded project, revenue comes in through the sale of the craft at a few stores in Bangalore, New Delhi, Chennai and countries like the USA, France, Austria and Australia. Another revenue stream for the museum is through the women’s livelihood project in jewellery making that she has started in a few villages.

Another stepping stone in her career was her participation in the Vienna Design Week, 2014 while she has been showcasing her work on other platforms as well. Dakshyani and Sanchali have come a long way from the humble start they had eight years back. Each new success, big or small, inspires her to keep creating, designing and always striving to make a change. Her vision, her talent and her story are indeed inspiring.

By: Betterinteriors