Urban Village

The World of Artisans

The humane aspect of Urban Village has touched many artisans' life in one way or other. Even a year ago Puran Mondol was contemplating to work as a labourer in the nearby brick kiln, but now can think of passing my work to my children after s stint with Urban Village opened a new avenue for him to continue with his handicraft.

Nirmal Maity, an artisan who weaves different art forms as a string poetry flowing through his fingers, had to shift to other profession as it was not enough to keep his kitchen running. But today he is happy to be back to the century old tradition of manufacturing hand made products that his forefathers have bequeathed to him and handful others in his village. Things changed for better when members of Urban Village approached him and gave anew lease of life to crafts and lives of the artisans as well.

The deft hands of craftsmen like Puran and Nirmal breathe life into materials, shaping them into beautiful pieces of art. But the note was not so optimistic till a year back as advent of modern machineries and cheap substitutes set in a decay of indigenous arts and crafts of Bengal with an alarming rapidity.

The backlash was evident from the fact that more and more artisans were migrating into cities in search of employment; the handlooms and handicrafts left crying for attention and patronage.

At this time when several government boards and Social Voluntary Organisations stepped in with preventive measures and revival strategies for the vanishing art scene, it is the Urban Village that cut a niche for itself.

Urban Village thrives not only to revive the traditional art forms of Bengal but also to portray and transform them into unique items of decoration and utility in tandem with modern-age need. Our approach to solution to this problem is not from the point of view of a NGO or any other charitable establishment, but to grow

Utilitarian yet unique, exclusive yet affordable, the articles are created and transformed keeping the traditional art and craft as the base for each item to suit and adapt to modern usage as well as keeping the Urban Village motto of focusing on the quality of each and every product.
Special care is taken by our administrators and coordinators that the artisans get their dues in time and proper way, so that they don't remain perennially deprived or a middleman eats out their share.