Abirpothi

craft & Handmade

300 Women Turn a Spanish Street into a Summer Canopy

300 Women Turn a Spanish Street into a Summer Shade Sculpture

In Alhaurín de la Torre, a group of local women turned crochet into climate infrastructure, creating a 60-meter handmade canopy that shades the town’s main shopping street and has helped lower summer temperatures by about 10 degrees Fahrenheit. The project, begun in 2019, has become both a functional cooling measure and a public artwork stitched […]

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Colours of Maati Brings Contemporary Mithila Craft to Bengaluru

Colours of Maati

Bengaluru is set to host a significant gathering at the intersection of craft, culture, and contemporary design with Colours of Maati, a two-day immersive showcase by MAATI – The Crafts School, taking place on 5–6 June 2026 at the historic Flat Roof Building, SABHA. Presented by the Mithila Art & Artisan Transformative Initiative (MAATI) and supported

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Chamba Rumal in a Contemporary Frame at Bridge Bharat

Bridge Bharat Exhibition view of Champa Rumal

Fields of Chamba, presented by Bridge Bharat, is an unfolding of land, labour, and the tactile intelligence of making. On view until May 2, the show repositions the Chamba Rumal as a living, thinking surface that holds memory, rhythm, and care. At its core, the exhibition draws from the ecological and cultural landscape of Chamba,

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Beyond the Algorithm: AI, Design, and the Enduring Value of  Craft 

Vishal Bhand Ph.D.  The rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has transformed the landscape of design,  from generative visuals and predictive trend analysis to automated prototyping and mass  customization. As algorithms become increasingly capable of simulating creativity, an inevitable  question arises: What happens to human-led design, craft practices, and traditional knowledge  systems in the age

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Pithora Painting of the Rathwa: Ritual Maps of Devotion

Pithora painting originates among the Rathwa and related communities in the Chhota Udepur and Panchmahal districts of Gujarat and adjoining areas of Madhya Pradesh. Families commission these large wall murals as part of vows to Baba Pithora, a chief deity who grants protection, health and prosperity. When a family experiences hardship and then witnesses improvement,

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Gond Painting of Central India: Myth, Nature and Modern Markets

Gond painting grows out of the visual and oral traditions of the Pardhan Gonds and related Gond communities across Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, eastern Maharashtra, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. The word “Gond” derives from the Dravidian expression “kond,” which refers to green mountains and points to the community’s long relationship with hilly forested terrain. Historically, Pardhan

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Bidri Artisans Sue Lenskart Over GI Misuse

Bidri Artisans Use Lenskart Over GI Misuse

Delhi High Court will soon hear a landmark case filed by five Bidri artisans from Bidar against eyewear retailer Lenskart for allegedly infringing the Geographical Indication (GI) tag “Bidriware”. Creative Dignity’s Craft IP Cell is supporting the suit, spotlighting it as a critical stand against corporate exploitation of traditional crafts. Petitioners and court filing The

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Threads That Bind: Reframing Kantha in Contemporary Context

Threads that Bind: The Kantha Project,

Gallery Vayu, in collaboration with utsaco, presents Threads that Bind: The Kantha Project, a new exhibition curated by Amit Vijaya. It is On view from March 11 to 20, 2026, at Gallery Vayu, Lodhi Road. The show brings together textile artworks that reimagine the traditional craft of kantha as a site of contemporary artistic and philosophical inquiry.

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Paitkar Scrolls of Jharkhand: Chitrakar Painters of Epics

Paitkar, sometimes written as Pyatkar, refers to a scroll painting tradition that centres today on Amadubi village in the East Singhbhum district of Jharkhand.

Paitkar, sometimes written as Pyatkar, refers to a scroll painting tradition that centres today on Amadubi village in the East Singhbhum district of Jharkhand. Chitrakar families, who work as hereditary painter‑storytellers, create the scrolls and perform them in a combined practice of image, song and narrative. Researchers link Paitkar to older pata or patua scroll

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Rogan Art of Kutch: An Ancient Textile Painting Tradition

Ashish_Kansara_Rogan_Art_199

Rogan painting survives today in and around Nirona village in Kutch, Gujarat, where members of the Khatri family continue to practice the technique.Artisans trace the form to Persian roots and explain that the word “rogan” comes from a Persian term for oil or varnish, which reflects the castor oil base of the paint. Historical records

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