Anuprerna - In a Nutshell
About Our Impact
A DECENTRALISED MODEL OF ARTISANAL PRODUCTION:
Our entity is founded with our artisans as the root. We have a decentralized artisan production where artisans across various clusters scattered in our state work from their homes. This adds to artisan safety and comfort, but due to the nature of our decentralized weaving, it's extremely difficult and expensive to be certified as a brand.
Therefore, we focus more on ensuring the raw materials used are safe and certified. We have centralized the sourcing of raw material & processing so that we can have control over the quality & sustainability of the material used. We have set up an in-house dyeing facility for both natural and certified Azo-free organic dyes and chemicals. We only outsource the weaving to artisans across East India, creating employment in the process without any financial liability for them. We already enrolled for Handloom certification under Textile Committee India which ensures the handloom tradition is maintained.
Source of Our Natural Fibers:
We are also working on an organic Khadi fabric collection, which requires us to source certified organic cotton fibre and then spun and woven into Organic Khadi. So the final texture would be a little different due to the hand process which is what we specialize in.
Regarding the source of fibre, cotton farming primarily happens in south Indian regions. Once the cotton is farmed, they are either mill spun which happens in south & west India but we source primarily from the south. And also these yarns are handspun in many regions on a small to large scale. This handspun yarn is called Khadi which we source from our state and adjacent states in eastern India where we are located. The handspun nature gives it a non-uniformity therefore high breathability but at the same time inconsistent dying due to unevenness within the yarn. Details on fabric sourcing we have captured here.
Socio-Economic Landscape of Our Artisans:
In our artisanal ecosystem, let us first share the socio-political environment where the artisans are working. Usually, these artisans are built around a village community where they are born and brought up. They love to enjoy themselves as an inclusive society at the time of festivals, functions and other ceremonies. That’s why all of them have built home workshops on their own. Usually, it’s a family-oriented homeworker environment where the men are responsible for weaving and the women are usually involved in pre-weaving activities. There are a few expert women weavers too, skilled in techniques like Jamdani.
We work in a contractual agreement with artisans where artisans share their justified rates/wages based on the design complexities and effort/time required for his/her work. We then decide the price of the fabric/textiles adding material, and other process expenses from our end. Because of our long-term relationship with the artisans, we work on mutual trust & respect for each other. Because of home-based work, there are no work hours decided by us. Usually, the artisans work 7-8 hours only during day time. They give importance to festivals, occasions, family & community responsibilities. We respect this because we understand their comfort and happiness working in such an arrangement. Although it sometimes leads to delays in production in certain cases.
One of our visions is to create global recognition for these beautiful textiles to bestow value onto the ordinary lives of these artisans with extraordinary skills. We believe, that once the value is recognised globally, it should translate into higher wages for weavers. We seek your help to share these traditions with more people you know, to spread more awareness.
CONTINUOUS IMPACT IMPROVEMENT AREAS:
Team Anuprerna
