The Celebrating Clay Project

Design Innovation and Craft Resource Centre (DICRC), CEPT University has been awarded one of the most competitive and prestigious grants the ‘Crafting Futures India’ by the British Council (under British High Commission), UK, for the project proposed ‘ Celebrating Clay: generating new forms of cultural production for Craft Experiential Tourism ’. The project will happen in the year 2020 and there are many activities and events planned for the entire year. This project is a collaborative project by Design Innovation and Craft Resource Centre(DICRC), CRDF, CEPT University India and The Clay Foundation and British Ceramics Biennial, UK. The project partners include Manthan Educational Programme Society, India and The Institute of Indian Interior Designers (IIID). The British Council has expressed great interest in this proposal as this may be one of the important projects which may lead to many such community-based projects. The project has a true genesis in our collaboration and our joyful journey together in Gundiyali since 2014.

The Celebrating Clay Project emerged out of the Craft Experiential Tourism Toolkit, developed by DICRC focusing on the idea of Craft Tourism. The intent is to undertake a pioneering project of creating perhaps the first-ever craft experiential tourism hub based on a systematic research framework. With the Craft Experiential Tourism Toolkit developed by DICRC, this project has the potential to be replicated and scaled up at any craft cluster in the country, most of which are not recognised at all. Craft experiential tourism has not been widely practised nor applied systematically at many craft clusters in India. Direct engagement and associations with the craft community and practices is essential. In order to develop and initiate this process we intend to do the following five sets of activities: a)Initiating dialogue with the community of Gundiyali craft cluster, b) Collecting oral narratives and stories from the cluster, c) Conducting International Craft Exchange Residency, d) Conceptualising and executing a Craft Walk in Gundiyali and e) Disseminating project outcomes through exhibitions.