Reviving Bamboo Crafts of Northeast India
Bamboo is a natural composite created by nature and it is one of the fastest growing plants known to man. Bamboo has been used for many centuries by local communities all over India to solve their housing, material culture and exotic food needs.
Prof. M. P. Ranjan, erstwhile Head of the NID Centre for Bamboo Initiatives Principal Designer and Faculty, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad (NID) has pioneered in reviving the living tradition of bamboo crafts in India by bringing in the technology dimension through research, development and documentation. He and his team conducted intensive field work from 1979 to 1981, through which emerged analysis of collected objects and field notes. The findings were published in a book titled "Bamboo & Cane Crafts of Northeast India" in 1986.
Since then Prof. Ranjan has undertaken several projects to demonstrate the role of bamboo as a sustainable craft and as an industrial material of the future. While doing the research and design work on bamboo, it has been his conscious effort that the designs being developed should be inclusive in nature, and democratic at the very heart, giving power to people who have been practicing this craft since ages. Prof. Ranjan also believes that there is need to bring shift in design thinking. Innovations in Bamboo craft could contribute in the creation of new strategies for the use of bamboo in India. He has also proposed several models to bring in the sustainability aspect within Bamboo crafts. His models combine three orders of design- Form, Structure and System- in other words- they put focus on issues relating to material and the function, aesthetic and socio-economic, environmental and political – all of which need to be addressed if relevance to the local context is to be assured along with sustainability.
Prof. Ranjan educates the general audience about his work through his blog.You can learn more about his work on bamboo conservation here:
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*This is a snapshot of just one individual involved in ICH conservation efforts in India. We are currently in the process of getting inputs and soon will be providing a comprehensive database of more such individuals.