BENGALURU : In an age when the varying cultural identities and crafts of the many states of the country are dwindling away among people, CraftsBazaar is bringing artisans and craftsmen from across India to the world. “India has always had so much diversity within it. Take a simple clutch purse and you can get it sewn as per Rajasthani, Gujarati and many other designs. But there are many problems that the artisans face, which does not allow their products to be appreciated as much as they should be,” says Aparna Challu, the founder of CraftsBazaar. She goes on to talk about the problems of non-accessibility, retail shop owners being the middlemen, no platform to showcase their art, among others.
CraftsBazaar was founded in mid 2016. This venture links rural artisans to customers directly. In January 2017, their group of 22 employees travelled across the country in search of these people who are not a part of tourism guides and took artists on board. They document their art forms, take pictures of their work and put them up on their website which can be accessed by anyone across the world with an internet connection. In case of remote places, they create mini CraftsBazaar’s focusing on the craft form practised in that particular area. After putting up their platform for consumer testing in May 2017, they have become a full-fledged organisation.
Aparna is passionate about preserving this diversity in India. A native of Srinagar, Kashmir, her father was with the Indian Air Force and she grew up in different parts of the country, witnessing the amount of potential these places had to offer. “We want to connect India to Indians,” she says.
“We want to go back to how things were, a generation ago. Back then, things were made for you. They were not bought from a series of choices. You had a barber come to your house and cut your hair, sarees for marriages were got from people who did the same for your previous generation as well. That’s what these artisans did – produced things that they were asked to,” says Aparna.
CraftsBazaar specialises in producing such custom made goods. The customer looks through the website and if they like a particular design or artwork in the ones that are present, they can send in their specifications or send a picture of how they want something to be made. The order is sent via email, text message, WhatsApp and phone call to the artisan. If they can do it, they will confirm that the date and time when the product will be done. The money is directly transferred to their bank accounts.“We want to start CraftBazaar melas in the coming year; first in the metros, then move to tier two cities.” They also sell seasonal food items grown in different parts of India. Aparna’s self-funded venture is looking to expand beyond their current online realm.
THE JOURNEY
Founded in 2016 by Aparna Challu, CraftsBazaar is a self-funded
organisation
22 employees travelled across the country to get artists on board
Platform
reportedly made a revenue of over a crore in first year
Founder plans on expanding to fixed hubs