Discovering the potential of tribal motifs
Anjali Bedia is a Senior Designer currently located in Ranchi, Jharkhand. She has a bachelor’s degree in Fashion and Lifestyle Accessories from National Institute of Fashion Technology, Chennai. She has experience of working as a Product Design Developer in MAS Linea Leather Accessories, Chennai which makes leather products and jerseys of national cricket teams of India and Sri lanka. Further she worked with Jharcraft, Ranchi. At present she works as a Freelance Designer.
Working in Jharcraft for six years Anjali had employed tribal motifs and colours drawing heavily from Jharkhand’s paintings like Sohrai, Khovar and Jadupatia which primarily use four colours made of natural elements. Presently she is involved in a project with DCH, Handloom and Handicraft Department, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India.
Coming from a place of learning Anjali has realised the limitations of colours in tribal motifs and paintings. An enthusiast of Sohrai, Khovar and Jadupatia paintings, Anjali is well versed with the themes, colours and the festivals or occasions when they are made. As a designer she is careful to not interchange or mix the themes of different forms of paintings while utilising them.
Interest in paintings had laid the path for Anjali to take up Design as a career. Design to her means creating something ‘out of the box’ which is unique and original even if it is inspired. The flexibility of utilising all kinds of materials while designing led her to opt for Fashion and Lifestyle Accessories with a specialisation in Leather. Her graduation project was with Rabia Leather Industries for a brand called Coach. Another project was with brand Kolhan. Both these projects enlightened her about the significance of measurement while using motifs on leather and also the limitations of cost and units of leather. Further, involvement in a project of Tamil Nadu government in Pondicherry regarding documentation of the arts and crafts helped her understand the disparity in prices given to the craftsmen.
Anjali is a proponent of utilising design to give back to the community. She finds it crucial to study and document craftsmen communities so as to bridge the loopholes while providing infrastructure facilities and market to their craft.
Working with Jharcraft she supervised the clusters in Silli which engaged in producing leaf plates, designs in satin, doops, kantha design, Sohrai painting and saree handloom. She finds a lot of potential in tribal motifs that can be put into various products. Anjali believes in creating awareness of sustainable products and lifestyle so as to create a market for indigenous products which will affect the larger community and the world in positive terms.