OUR IDEA Celebration of crafts
DOTS AND LINES is a for-profit registered social enterprise in the handicraft sector and working towards popularising traditional Indian handmade crafts and products.
A survey conducted by us amongst more than 700 consumers of different age groups gave an insight into what stopped them from preferring handmade products. Issues like authenticity and cost effectiveness topped their concerns.
DOTS AND LINES has been set up to find ways and means to make use of handmade crafts as a way of life by creating awareness and through the promotion of such products amongst the Indian consumers. After an ideation time that took a year, we are now moving ahead with an enthusiastic mind to further scale up the idea with our authentic products now available online on e-commerce and social media platforms.
EMBRACE HANDMADE
Because handmade matters
The legacy of Indian traditional handicrafts is known worldwide. The diversity and the beauty of the workmanship that goes into crafting each invaluable piece has an immense connection with the Indian ethos.
However, modernisation is erasing the footmarks of our glorious traditions. Most of the handicrafts are struggling to survive traditionally and commercially. And knowingly or unknowingly, we are contributing to this sad state of affairs. We need to support and help in keeping the tradition alive.
Handmade crafts and products are made by artisans who belong to the marginalised sections of the society. As we sideline our traditional past and unforgivingly follow the technology-driven consumerism, we are eroding our cultural heritage. The designs and age-old traditions of techniques used in making such crafts are lost without a trace. Only a few families are left practising authentic crafts production. Their traditional glory needs to be preserved for future generations.
TIME FOR ACTION
It is now or never
HANDMADE PRODUCTS
Unique and original
For us, handmade is anything that is made entirely by hand or with the support of tools. Any handmade craft has a divine appeal. Handmade products have an individuality which is not replicable, unlike machine-made products. Imperfections in their making create beauty in them.
ARTISAN COMMUNITY
Torchbearer of craftsmanship
The legacy of a traditional craft is carried forward by artisans who practise it. Each craft has its own set of knowledge and skills. Artisans are the torchbearers of traditional craftsmanship passing it on from generation to generation. Our products are from members of communities who are into the practice of such age-old traditions. By promoting their products, we are making our own contribution to supporting their livelihood by helping such traditions stay alive within their communities.
POPULARISING HANDMADE CRAFTS
Getting them to the mainstream
Indian traditional crafts are made by artisans scattered across the country. Except for a few popular ones, they don’t receive much attention. Most of them are known only within the state of its origin. This situation needs to change.
It is our mission to get such “not-so-popular crafts” into the mainstream and within the purchasing ambit of the average Indian, which forms the pulse of India’s economic development narrative. It’s a fact that handmade crafts are used to decorate five-star designer spaces. Our effort is to help add this beauty to the homes of middle-income families as well.
ARTISANS AND CONSUMERS Making the two worlds meet
When was the last time you purchased a handmade craft? For most of us, the handmade crafts and pieces at home are usually gifted on an occasion. Let us admit it… we don’t have a tradition of buying such products ourselves. They are never part of our bucket list.
The exorbitant cost attached to handmade products makes them seem to be products for the elite. Because of this reason, it is sad that a large section of the population doesn’t stand as possible buyers of handmade products.
The absence of reliable information available on crafts creates a major disconnect between artisans and the buyers. This barrier between the artisan and the consumer needs to go. And as a social start up enterprise, this is our major focus area.
India is home to a large number of handmade crafts. Demarcating the original from the fake is a challenge. Our products are procured directly from artisans to ensure originality. It has been a pleasure contacting them, understanding their lives and aspirations and following their creative spirit.
It’s equally satisfying when our customers convey the exhilarating feeling upon purchase of a handmade product. Most of them mentioned that they feel a soulful connection with the product and experience the artisan’s creative force flowing through it. And that is what we want every customer to sense and realise.
OUR AUTHENTIC CRAFTS
Procured directly from artisans
GET CLOSER TO NATURE
Step into an eco-friendly life
Handmade is also a way to get back to eco-friendly life. Handcrafted products made out of terracotta, clay, grass etc. provide an opportunity to get back to the basics and nature.
We campaign to instil this spirit and try out aspects of eco-friendliness in life through our listed products. It’s a lifestyle choice which the customer has to make and in the long run we wish to have a major visible social turnaround.