Women's Work - third WCMT blog post
One thing several people told me in Shillong: looking after (intangible) culture is women's work. The intersections of crafts (and other heritage) with gender, class/caste, ethnicity, and other aspects of diversity are very strong, and providing much food for thought.
In Ahmedabad I visited several parts of the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA). This originated as a Trade Union then created a co-operative bank, and other co-operatives followed. In addition to visiting offices, I went for a day to the semi-desert Patan region of Gujerat to see the Hansiba museum established by embroiderers / embroidery training centre, and to the SEWA Design centre in Ahmedabad, which has training facilities and plans to establish a library/archive for use by craftspeople "becoming their own designers". The Design Centre is in a newly restored and protected building, and sees SEWA moving into closer alliance with the mainstream heritage sector. Historically, the focus has been on women's rights rather than heritage protection.
In Ahmedabad I visited several parts of the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA). This originated as a Trade Union then created a co-operative bank, and other co-operatives followed. In addition to visiting offices, I went for a day to the semi-desert Patan region of Gujerat to see the Hansiba museum established by embroiderers / embroidery training centre, and to the SEWA Design centre in Ahmedabad, which has training facilities and plans to establish a library/archive for use by craftspeople "becoming their own designers". The Design Centre is in a newly restored and protected building, and sees SEWA moving into closer alliance with the mainstream heritage sector. Historically, the focus has been on women's rights rather than heritage protection.
