Skilling the artisans in Meghalaya/ ‘Creating with hands’
Rida Gatphoh is an entrepreneur and co-founder of Dakti Craft based in Meghalaya, Shillong. She has a background in design education from National Institute of Fashion Technology, Bengaluru. She has work experience with retail enterprises like Future Group, Pantaloon Retail India Ltd in Mumbai. Thereafter she also worked in the innovation and incubation field creating brands relevant to the market. She moved back to Meghalaya in 2010 where she had a teaching experience of two years in National Institute of Fashion Technology, Shillong.
A positive experience of Rida with craft clusters paved the way for Dakti Crafts. Documentation had also been a priority for her in Meghalaya. Rida’s collaboration with other designers had set the tune for a group which travelled from one village to another. They stayed with the local craftsmen of the village, witnessing the crafts and later making interventions in their crafts. They also worked as sourced designers for government workshops and collaborating with craftsmen. The association with the craftsmen communities gave rise to the brand Dakti Craft. ‘Dakti’ , as Rida reveals, is a Khasi word which carries three meanings- ‘to protect the hand’, ‘impressions of the hand’ and ‘with the hands’. Thus, the name ‘Dakti’ resonates with the work of skilling the artisans in Meghalaya.
Dakti Craft is a social enterprise involved in design intervention along with training and skill development with various clusters and communities in Meghalaya. Pottery artisans, weavers, bamboo craftsmen are part of it. Over the years Rida has been engaged in exploring local materials in Meghalaya for her crafts. Rida and her team have been able to establish connections with craftsmen communities. Dakti’s efforts in promoting these communities through marketing of products and solutions to revive has brought in investments from various agencies. The value addition to the craft has been instrumental in bringing back the craft communities and their crafts promoting sustainability. The design has been a journey of learning for Rida. Her inspiration for Design came from her love for music. Rida is a Singer and Songwriter at ‘Rida and The Musical Folks’. Her graduation project was about knotting out of waste. Dakti at present is engaged in providing training, workshops, exporting pottery outside the country, selling the handcrafted products online as well as offline through various platforms. It is also providing employment, resonating the idea of “protecting the hand”.
As a Designer, Rida believes in being conscious in recognising the problem, raw materials so as to come up with a feasible and sustainable solution. Adding value and understanding the value can be helpful in generating sustainable modes of employment. Through Dakti, Rida is carrying a holistic approach to design while understanding the limitations of climate change and carbon footprint.