<Volume/order changed 5/31>
I find it so enjoyable to look back at travel photos that it tends to interrupt my work.
As I look at the photographs, I feel happy to have had the opportunity to witness, even a small part, the daily renewal of the ancient and new world of handicrafts in the Indian subcontinent.
I travel alone or with local acquaintances to visit the people (craftsmen) who live in my time and their workplaces. The more I go, the more my perspective as an amateur increases, and I can get a better idea of the stance they take in their work within the larger trends of the world.
Many craftsmen have moved on to modern methods or are in the process of moving on. As customers and markets change, so do their techniques and expressions. We are also responsible for these changes. Therefore, we must design and engage with them in the way that is best for them and their work traditions.
There are also old-fashioned craftsmen who don't care who they are asked to make or what the pattern is, but just work silently as if they are breathing. When my Indian comrades and I find such craftsmen, we exchange information with each other. I think it is our role to create jobs that such people can continue to do.
I have mainly posted about my fabric journey on my personal Instagram (@fumie_CALICO), but I have been unable to upload everything during my travels and the seasons have changed... I have been unable to update for a while because I wondered what I could convey if I suddenly uploaded the bare scenery in front of me.
Or, there were many times when I was unskillfully introducing a small workshop where a local friend was working on an important project, and I was worried that I would destroy the local manufacturing ecosystem.
However, the work in the village looks different every time I visit.
The desire to leave something behind somewhere was growing stronger.
The main purpose of this website update is to record and introduce contemporary work on the Indian subcontinent, and to leave a record of our modest activities.
Because it is fabric, I think it will travel to many different places and times.
Thank you very much.
Photo by Yayoi Arimoto, 2019