Introduction: Education for Artisans

Issue #006, Autumn, 2020                                                                       ISSN: 2581- 9410 This issue of the International Journal of Intangible Cultural Heritage is dedicated to the memory of Umarbhai Faruk Khatri, master of woolen bandhani, and Advisor to Somaiya Kala Vidya. Umarbhai was a staunch supporter of education for artisans. “A good teacher is very important,” he said in a recent interview. “You have to teach gently, with love. When the students are successful, the teacher is happy.” Our issue explores education for artisans, a subject that has been my focus for decades. Developing programs of education appropriate for artisans requires deep, complex contemplation.  The first question that arises may be, do artisans need education beyond what has already been developed?  But before that, one has to examine education.  What is the state of existing education programs, and what is the impact? Jinan K.B., radical thinker, critically examines existing conventional education systems in contrast to how children learn, and maps this onto his experiences teaching traditional artisan communities.  Working with communities in which natural learning is preserved leads him to imagine an appropriate curriculum for artisans. He argues that traditionally artisans acquired contextually rooted aesthetic sensibilities and the wisdom of a traditional way of being. To develop an appropriate curriculum, he says, one will have to sensitively study how to merge tradition and modernity, not because there was anything lacking in...