Delhi Crafts Museum and Dastkar

Traditional Rajastani wall paintings at National Handicrafts and Handloom Museum (Crafts Museum)

If you ever find yourself in Delhi then we would highly recomend a visit to the National Handicrafts and Handloom Museum better known as the Crafts Museum. It is a wonderful oasis away from the hustle and bustle of Delhi and houses a vaste amount of incredible textiles and many other intriguing artifacts from regional India arranged in a number of galleries.
The resource library is open to the public so you could easily spend a whole day here (or two).
The textiles gallery is impressive and leads you through regional traditional fabrics. There is limited description which is a little frustrating but so much beautiful fabric really does speak for itself. It is possible to make an appointment to look at a specific technique or area in more depth as with such a vaste collection of textiles, a day visitor can only glimpse the surface.

There are some dusty looking looms and a 'village complex' which houses a number or artisans practicing and selling various crafts, so take your wallet as there are many beautiful things to tempt you and no hassling!

   Josie, Juliette and Nat at the Dastkar Nature Bazaar, Delhi

Dastkar is a a society for crafts and craftspeople, it was set up in 1981 by six women with the aim of  improving the economic status of craftspeople across India by giving them the support and opportunity to sell their work and keep their craft alive. They currently work with around 100 groups across all the Indian states guiding them through developing, designing, costing and marketing their products.
Dastkar regularly hold fairs across India to provide an outlet for the producers to directly reach the consumer and we attended one at the Indira Gandhi centre in Delhi. It was a wonderful day out with food and entertainment set in tranquil grounds, very different to most shopping experiences in Delhi!
The prices are fixed and fairly high for the local market to ensure the workers receive a good wage, and it was notably attended by wealthy Indians and Westerners.
We met up with Natalie and Juliette who had studied with us at Falmouth and were just arrived in Delhi to undertake three months placement at Neeru Kumar working on her Raga interiors collection. It was great to see them and compare notes over some chai.



Dastkar guides the process of developing a craft – from identifying the skill and creating awareness of its potential in both craftsperson and consumer, developing, designing, costing and then marketing the product, and finally suggesting the proper usages and investment of the income generated. The objective is to make the craftspeop Dastkar guides the process of developing a craft – from identifying the skill and creating awareness of its potential in both craftsperson and consumer, developing, designing, costing and then marketing the product, and finally suggesting the proper usages and investment of the income generated. The objective is to make the craftspeop