Bamboo Craft Design

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Editor: A. G. Rao & Madhavi Koli

Cardinal Point: Mumbai

Original Location: India

Presently at: IDC

Period: (1989-1998)

Date: (1994)


Detail

Various presentations made during "Jagruti" form the core of this document. Many authors took the trouble to write elaborate articles after the seminar based on their brief presentations, extending the scope of their topics. In a few cases, we have done the write-up, based on the presentations and subsequent briefings by the authors. In addition to this, the design output of the various design groups in the form of sketches and product photographs is documented in the subsequent part of the document. The coverage of the Jagruti events, along with details of the participants and the organisations  interested in bamboo, comes in the end. The post seminar efforts have culminated in a comprehensive article on the theme of bamboo craft design. For convenience and ease of comprehension, all the material is divided into eleven sections. In the first section on bamboo properties, traditions, and techniques, M.P. Ranjan looks at bamboo as a designer material. The section on developmental issues deals with economic development, employment, ecology, government policies, and support for bamboo craft. Vinod Kaley laments the lopsided policies of the past that have led to craftsmen being paid as much as twenty times more than what is being paid by an ecologically damaging paper mill. P.S. Muhkerjee elaborates on the role of bamboo craft in integral tribal development. He pointed out the useful interaction the Bharatiya Agro Industries Foundation (BAIF) had with industrial designers in developing marketable, user-friendly gadgets using local wood. The ensuring panel discussion focused on the desirability of the global outlook. The Japanese model for bamboo craft is the content of the third section. In the next session, "Themes for Bamboo Craft," R.K. Joshi articulates the potential of letter forms. Some other sections are on potential product areas, various issues involved in giving design inputs to bamboo crafts, Sunil Patel’s presentation on luggage design gives us the methodology adopted in developing market oriented designs in plastic, Vijay Bapat and Parag Vyas’s product explorations based on physical properties of bamboo, etc. The eighth section is on finishing techniques. J.P Mehta details the variety of coatings possible on bamboo. Finally, an attempt has been made to consider bamboo as a product that will endure in the future.