The Contribution Of Women In Handicrafts Cultural Studies Essay

The Contribution Of Wo custody In Handicrafts Cultural Studies EssayThe render study aimed to access the voice of women in handicrafts. The current theme of query regarding handicrafts is to find out the display case of embellishment utilization that women do in their homes and the problems and advantages that those women get from their ornamentation determine. While there is a great add up of research devoted to these topics, there is a deprivation of consensus on the bit of women in handicrafts ( ornamentation). This study would add a significant knowledge and discipline to the existing one. Moreover in Pakistan scarce educate is through and through with(p) regarding womens contribution in handicrafts so this piece of lock would excessively be steadying in understanding the womens problems regarding their work.Handicrafts ar the mirror of stopping point, tradition and aesthetics of the artisans who make them. The real witness of a piece of handicrafts surely depends on the uncloudedness of material, the glimpses of a culture and touch of art. Pakistan has a rich history of handicrafts. The built-in wealth of timeless Pakistani handicrafts has survived through ages. The legacy of Pakistani culture promises everything- beauty, dignity, form and style. These handicrafts radiate an impression of glory, exhibit hereditary skills and show close craftsmanship. (Shaukat, 2006)Handicrafts be most significant in terms of economic development. topographic point based work has represented an authoritative economic action for women and men for the long time period. Now in repennyly stratums this food market get progress and become internationalized but men get much benefit from it and move to the some(prenominal) profitable argonas and the adaptation of these workers into unorganized orbit hasten made the women more insecure and lead them to the exploitation and devaluation of their skills. (Gyanendra Dastidar, 2000)The facts conjure up that more wealthy countries have less daily sparing and evolution countries more expansive one. Denmark has 18 per cent, Nigeria and Thailand 80 per cent informal economy in comparison to their respective formal economies. There is nonhing overbearing to admit the fact that Pakistan has an informal economy of about 70 per cent.1(Bhatti, 2002)Types of handicraftsHandicrafts convey the creation of a wide range of objects, including article of clothing, religious symbols and jewelry, and different types of melodic theme crafts. (Malcolm Tatum, 2003)There are hundreds if non gmsands of different varieties of handicrafts. The following list of crafts is allow in just for descriptive purposes.1. Carpets TextilePakistan has tradition of carpet- qualification going back thousands of years. distort was a developed form of art in the Mohenjodaro in Sindh 4000-5000 year ago. The handmade carpets produced in Lahore in the 16th Century are on display in m drillums in Lahore and els ewhere. K nonted woolen carpets with Islamic designs are break down of the culture in both South Asia and the Middle East. In Pakistan, Karachi and Lahore are important centers for the end product of fine carpets. (Shaukat, 2006)Textiles such as pull awayspreads and shawls are popular, and the Sindhi and Balochi are celebrated for their mirror embroidery. Appliqu, Crocheting, embellishment, Knitting, Lace-making, Macram, Quilting, Weaving are also include in textile handicrafts. (Ruskin Morris)2. Brass, Onyx Wood CraftsThe Handicrafts manifested through Brass, onyx and wood, are know to concur a proud tradition of handicrafts since 1994 in Pakistan and truly signifying the worth of the products. The art of carving on Metal Wood items are the real beauties of our operose working Craftsmen. These items are manufactured in bantam villages by supple craftsman, and can easily be purchased in big cities. such(prenominal) crafts include, metal lanterns, mirror frames, decorat ion pieces and more. (Shaukat, 2006)3. PotteryThe potter at his wheel is a habitual scene in every village, uninfluenced by moderne glamour. Bahawalpur, Rawalpindi, Gujrat and homes around also produce brilliant pottery, painted after firing. The deplorable glazed pottery of Multan dates back to the 13th century with obvious traces for woodwork. Chiniot is also kn possess for brass and iron inlay. Copper and brass work is done within the walled city of Lahore.Ceramics and glazed pottery are among the oldest art forms in Pakistan, dating back to the Indus Valley Civilization (2500 B.C.E.). The most popular techniques utilise include engraving intricate designs into the undercoating of the pottery and then glazing it with colored vapourous glazes. An different popular technique is to apply blue designs over innocence glazes. Pakistani potters are responsible for making the e agitateate tiles that curry mosques and universe buildings. (Shaukat, 2006)4. WoodcraftsWood-carving, Wood-turning, Cabinet making, Furniture making, lacquerware include in woodcrafts. Pakistani furniture is known all over the world for its beautiful and intricate designs and the mastery of its craftsman. one of the fine longitudinal cross grains solid wood is known as Rosewood. It is available in the form of dense jungles in northern areas of Pakistan. In Asia this wood is scarce available in Pakistan. In local style people calls it SHESHAM. It is also available along the lakes and rivers in Punjab province of Pakistan. Such furniture is famous all over the world for its distinctiveness and beauty. (Shaukat, 2006)5. jewelry Leather goodsMetalwork, including inlaid or engraved swords, boxes, dishes, and tea sets made from fluent and money, as well as jewelry with precious stones and pearls, are important crafts. Jewelry is not limited to necklaces, bracelets, rings but also includes fuzz and forehead decorations and nose ornaments. Leatherwork and basketry are also important crafts. Sindh baskets are colorful and intricate, while weavers in the Northwest Frontier prefer geometric patterns. (Shaukat, 2006)EmbroideryEmbroidery is the art or handicraft of decorating cloth or separate materials with get hold ofle and ribbon or wool. Embroidery may also integrate other materials such as metal strips, pearls, beads, quills, and sequins. Embroidery is an ancient textile art which uses strands of embroidery floss or wool to create a picture in thread on canvas, linen or other cloth. It forms a part of needlework. Embroidery uses various chalk upes and combinations of stitches. Each embroidery stitch has a special name to help identify it.Embroidery has know as a creative expression of people and it is storage of our spoken traditions which have been chief(prenominal)tained by the women. (Dhamija, 2004)Embroidered textiles are frequently used to decorate living spaces, temporary or permanent, impressive or modest. Colourful embroidered textiles, a good deal displayed in combination with painted or stucco decoration, bring beauty and colour into mud-walled homes.Historically, embroidered textiles reflected the wealth and influence of rulers, courtiers, and favoured courtesans. Among South Asias umpteen peoples, these textiles frequently set family origins, personal status or religious affiliation. (Dale Carolyn Gluckman, 2007)The folk embroidery tradition runs deep in the Punjab. At the end of the 15th century, the founder of the Sikh religion, Guru Nanak, wrote Thou art not a worthwhile woman until thou hast embroidered thy own blouse. Village women still practice the craft, also stitching bed and cushion covers and a variety of other cloths, but the art in all likelihood reached its peak in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. (Beste, Michael, 2009)Types of embroideryThere are m either different styles of embroidery, often with regional variations.Chikan embroideryChikan embroidery is a fine needle-craft done by hand loos ely using white thread on a variety of fabrics from cotton plant and silk to synthetics. It is the most famous fine art of embroidery at Lucknow, and is famous not scarce in India, but also abroad. (Sarna Shukla, 1994)Zari embroideriesFrom the second fractional of 18th century until the early 20th century, two different types of gold embroidery found ready patrons these were zardozi work, heavy silver-gilt thread work upon a foundation padded with cotton thread or paper, on smooth or sation ground and Kalabattu work light delicate embroidery, in gilt-silver or silver threads, strips of gilt-silver, gilt-silver sequins, upon fine silk cotton or muslin. (Dhamija, 2004) washcloth workWhite work is embroidered in white thread, on pure white fabric, it is not at all difficult, and is cheap to achieve. The tools you will need for white work embroidery are minimal. Firstly, a nice piece of fabric. Depending on the attractive of item you wish to produce, you may start out with high th read count white muslin, or an even weave or linen.Appliqu workAppliqu work is every kind of embroidery which, being worked solidly on one material is then cut out and lay fling off upon another, and secured by various ornamental stitches. (Dhamija, 2004)China workThis work was most entirely Chinese in design and techniques. It was done on saries, shawls, borders, children dresses and a variety of costumes. The fabric used was mainly chines silk or fine satin of red, regal and black colour. The embroidery was done sometimes with floss-silk and more often with tightly spun, two ply silk. (Dhamija, 2004)PhulkariThe simple and sparsely embroided work for everyday use was called phulkari. It was done on odhnis or shawls for everyday use on frank handspun khadi cloth, in general brownish-red, usng floss-silk in darning stitched worked from the reverse spot of fabric. (Dhamija, 2004)Kashmir embroideryThe main varieties of Kashmir being namda, work on felt-wool, gabba, a type of appl iqu work, using waste woolen fabrics and kashida wrought on various kinds of clothing and the cloth used is either silk or wool. (Dhamija, 2004)Role of women in handicrafts kinfolk based workers are the most marginalized and one of the intumescentst groups of workers in this sector, with an estimated 300 gazillion workers worldwide2. Home based work has been identified as work that is undertaken in the home by either commutative own card workers or dependent subcontractors.3They are predominately women, located in various occupations including the fiction of electronic components of fans, washing machines, irons, or the manufacture of glass bangles, items of pottery small surmount packaging and assembling of consumables, hand knitting, embroidery, stitching, handicrafts, garments and weaving of carpets and shawls. It also includes clerical and teaching homework and the supply of raw materials. (Carr, Chen Tate, 2000)According to man Bank report after agriculture, the most im portant source of womens exercise is home-based work.4(Aurat publication, 1997)The statistics on the informal economy are unreliable, The number of women in the informal labour force possibly stands at 12.79 millions, of whom 8.52 million women, constituting 75 per cent of the total informal sector workers, were home-based workers.5(Aurat publication, 1997)A canvas of the Pakistan Institute of outgrowth Economics (PIDE) conducted in 2003 shows that 77 percent of the total pistillate labor force falls within the purview of the informal sector, while 53 percent are classified as home based workers. The survey further revealed that in the rural sector, where 79 percent of the egg-producing(prenominal) universe above the age of ten is actively involved in agriculture, only 37 percent are gainfully employed in their own family farms while the rest fall within the category of un stipendiary workers. close to working women have to hand over their earnings to their parents or husband s.During the 18th and nineteenth centuries women produced and consumed the crafts for the home(prenominal) interior. They made crafts at various levels in party and having different motives. At one level, it may have been artistic self-expression at another level a product of a commitment to family line duty or financial neces sticky, or on a triad level it may have been for entertainment or pastime. (Edward, 2006)Informal thrift comprises of small enterprises of one or more persons, with casual or unfluctuating employees of less than 10 people.6The workers in this sector fall into the following trinity categories7Self-employed womenHome-based workersSelf-employed womenA woman who is self-employed works for herself instead of as an employee of another person or organization, drawing income from a batch or business. Self-employed workers are paid directly by clients or by their business, and some proportion of these payments will be due to the organisation as income tax. ( Haq, 2003)Home-based workersHome based women workers fall into two categories (i) dependent workers who work on a piece rate and usually produce for a subcontractor or middle persons in a contract chain and (ii) independent home based workers or own-account workers who produce goods for direct sale through street stalls, shops or the local village and sometimes to traders or subcontractors. (Haq, 2003)In the last ten years women have become more active in business and the private sector. Their intimacy found in many areas, in which small scale projects as well as astronomical scale private projects are include. Small scale rural projects deals with farming and gardening, production of handicrafts, running trade and food stores that transformed into considerable scale private projects. There are numerous networks which have been established for the women in business. It also empowers the women of a home-base producer or in private sector. (Brouwer, Harris Tanaka, 1998)The unpre meditated home-based workers represent an important part of working population. There are large number of income producing activities are included in home-based sector in which mostly women workers are engaged. Beedi making, textile, garment making, food processing, craft, coir work, dairy and chikan embroidery are included in these activities. Both in rural and urban areas, there is tending(p) very little importance to this unorganized sector and the signs of this sector are the working conditions are unspeakable, the wages are extremely low and workers verbalism great worries and exploitations. Home based industrial work is one of the least regulated, least managed, and most risky, systems of industrial production however a large number of women workers are tired in this sector just because of lack of personal resources, like education and awareness, non-availability of employment opportunities, and normative practices which control womens mobility extracurricular home. (Sarna Shukla, 1994)Liberalisation has improved the employment opportunities for women in some sectors especially in the crafts sector. So there are increased the number of women in participation of home-base craft sector like in embroidery, lace making, weaving and printed textiles. In some cases empowerment of women also increases but in most cases, the working condition of the women workers is poor and they are paid less than men. (Krishnaraj, 1992 cited by Rao, 2005)Women have a great work load in their lives they have a double burden, to earn income from their work and also have to fulfill their domestic responsibilities. They laboring the whole day generally they work 12 to 16 hours per day and losing their time and energy both. (Durand, 1975 cited by United Nations Economic and sociable commission for Asia and the pacific, 1987)Being a embroidery skilled worker, their work requires women to sit long hours in the same position that resulting in eye, back bone, shoulders as well as o ther mental and emotional problems depending upon the physical environs in which these women live and work. (Sarna Shukla, 1994)Wage discrimination is obvious and usually common against women in Asia. Wage rates are as low as one-third or it may be observed that women always paid less of those paid to men. In Jobs also, there are described carefully to discriminate the labour practices involved female positions typically require few skills and give poor salary. (United Nations Economic and social commission for Asia and the pacific, 1987)In handicrafts the embroidery work is a traditional art but many women face up some difficulty of marketing their skill. mainly simple embroidery piece do not have sale value except it is the part of some readymade garments, complete form and other gift items. Then these workers must rely on the other persons to sale out for their exclusive crafts. Generally these persons are shop keepers, designers and exporters. Women of home-base producers a lso face difficulty in this circumstance because they are unadvertised and commonly people dont know them so they have only those customers to know them personally. (Gyanendra Dastidar, 2000)Mostly the womens work is disgustingly under-reported in Pakistan. Purdah is the main reason that stops any direct communication between the census taker and the female respondent. The household head, usually a male, reports any female activity. Because solitude is a status representation, related with material well-being, and womens work is frowned upon, it is expected that female labour is under-reported. (Whyte, 1982 cited by United Nations Economic and social commission for Asia and the pacific, 1987)In some traditional industries like jute and cotton textile, mechanization has contributed in the rejection of female employment. Women represent 90 percent of the workers in these industries such as the making of embroidery. But intermediaries and middlemen who provide the raw materials and market the final product, make them poorly exploited by only paying the women minimal wages. (Bhatty n.d. Indian Council of companionable Science Research, 1975 cited by United Nations Economic and social commission for Asia and the pacific, 1987)Crafts production is culturally recognized activity. The skills present in the economic sector and many women adopt and practice it. But they dont get to recognition and value not in the economy and not in the household level. They dont have any financial records, on average it accounts for less than 1% of a households income. This is not much to lead toward progress. There are too much women who go into in home-craft production but they just have little invasion on it. There is also no visibility of proper place or infrastructure for marketing home-produced crafts. (Freedman Wai, 1988)NGOs should help the home based women workers to compliance cooperatives. These cooperatives should supply raw materials, make sure appropriate and tim ely payments, suffice for the credit and support in design development. (Ministry of Labour, 2000).There is an immediate need to arrange female workers into cooperatives and other organizations where production and marketing are included. giving medication institutions or voluntary welfare organizations must come forward to swerve such exploitation of women. (United Nations Economic and social commission for Asia and the pacific, 1987)