Bhavisha Sanadhya from SHARE and women from the Arpan
Cooperative
"ARPAN (meaning to dedicate or offer oneself), one of the artisan womens' cooperatives that MARKETPLACE Handwork of India work with, participates in "The Future is on the Table" project. This is a very powerful experience for each and every woman in the cooperative. ARPAN is situated on the outskirts of Mumbaï, India and until recently was untouched by the progress of this large city. When MARKETPLACE Handwork of India first started working with ARPAN, many women had not entered a bank, used a telephone or visited Mumbaï. Being a part of "The Future is on the Table" stretches their imagination, makes them think of things that influence their lives (like festivals), their meanings and how they need to change. Their participation gave them an opportunity to express themselves creatively and a platform to discuss things and lastly an important part is the knowledge that this is an international project with participation from different countries, continents, people of different faiths, color, speaking different languages, and having different customs and traditions." Pushpika Freitas
MARKETPLACE Handwork of India is a non-profit organization based in Illinois
(USA) and working with 14 women artisan cooperatives in India. MARKETPLACE
Handwork of India is dedicated to increasing economic opportunities for women
artisans in India, and empowering them to bring about changes in their lives,
the lives of their families, and their communities.
MARKETPLACE Handwork of India works with a non-profit organization, Support
the Handicapped's Rehabilitation Effort (SHARE), in Mumbaï. SHARE provides
technical assistance in both the business as well as facilitating the social
development of every artisan. SHARE personnel attends most of the meetings,
analyzing the process from an external point of view, identifying community
resources that may be helpful and sometimes mediating a conflict.
Underlying the relationship between SHARE and the cooperatives is always the
knowledge that the business and the social development process have to be
artisan-driven and all decisions have to be taken by them. The Future is on
the Table stools acted as powerful elements to stimulate discussion about
socio-cultural constructs here and there, like look up and look down at, comfort
vs power, status women's work. The workshops were facilitated by Gwylene Gallimard
and filmed by Michèle Waquant. Bhavisha Sanadhya acted as
an interpreter for the workshops.
Padma Sonar
Kajal Chawan
Gwylene Gallimard
Arpan Day 1