Dimapur, July 19 (MExN): More than 48 leading tribal designers, design academicians and design students from various disciplines got together to forge a community of designers online on July 11 that could work as a consortium for projects related to tribal people and tribal communities.
Tribal designers from Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya came together to participate in the first ever Tribal Design Forum with the central theme – ‘Design for Us.’
Tribal designers from various locations in India and design professionals from Dubai, London, Berlin and Helsinki participated in the forum and reiterated the need to design products and services that accomplish appropriate and meaningful solutions for problems faced by various sections of the society, stated a press release received here.
The forum was well attended by designers from the Naga communities such as Angami, Sumi, Lotha, Zeliang and Poumai, along with others from Munda, Santhal, Oraon, Kharia, Karbi, Khasi, Mizo communities with proven track record of work in the rural and industrial fields. The participants included textile designers, fashion designers, UX/UI interaction designers, product and industrial designers, ceramic and glass designers, jewellery designers, exhibition and museum designers, illustrators, animators, film makers, graphic and communication designers.
“It was really amazing to see the number of design professionals coming together from so many varied tribal communities, each doing excellent work in their field. Before this meeting, it was impossible to imagine the role that designers have been actively engaged with to help their tribal communities develop socioeconomically and culturally. As a collective, this is a unique group with the potential to transform lives of tribal communities,” said Sudhir John Horo, convenor of Tribal Design Forum.
Tribal alumni of some of the leading design institutions like National Institute of Design (NID), National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Goldsmiths (UK) Aalto University (Finland) and others got together to deliberate on the potential role of design to create products, services, systems that would be focused towards delivering value to their respective tribal communities while leveraging and enhancing local skill and indigenous knowledge systems to create sustainable livelihoods. During the forum, the members deliberated on possible design interventions in areas like education, crafts, skills, employment, migration, agriculture and agro-products, tourism, textiles, fashion and tribal identity among others.
NID alumna, Margaret Zinyu, founder of Studio Predilection, a textile design firm based in Nagaland said, “Tribal designers are the appropriate agents to express the tradition, culture and values of our respective communities and should have the platform to tell our stories in an authentic way.”
Voicing similar opinion Archana Shephali Kongari, Associate Professor at NIFT said, “The various tribes have preserved their knowledge, culture, crafts and vivid lifestyles till this era of modernization and technology. I feel there is a need to share these expressions with all, to enable greater recognition and appreciation to coexist, grow and thrive together with all communities. But this would only be possible if the tribal designers can come together to communicate and demonstrate our values effectively to the society.”
Design is often misunderstood to be an activity to beautify objects. But design is more of a problem-solving process that results in the creation of appropriate and relevant products or services. Design is being effectively used to address social issues and challenges like poverty, hunger, water, housing, education, healthcare etc. and is being used as an effective tool to develop solutions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
One of the key issues voiced during the forum was that very often design solutions and various developmental policies are often thrust upon the tribal population which is often incongruent with the local culture and context. And a strong need was felt to engage tribal designers to understand local problems within their respective communities, work with the local people to develop solutions that are relevant, responsible, ethical and appropriate to the communities.
“The National Policy of Design states that there is a need to form a Chartered Society of Designers and one such platform is very much required in Jharkhand. Tribal designers should understand the need of the hour and come together to serve the people of Jharkhand,” Nilima Topno, Associate Professor at NIFT.
It was also felt that despite having very qualified and experienced design professionals from the tribal communities across various states, the local authorities have been unable to leverage this invaluable human resource adequately to engage in the socioeconomic and cultural advancement of local tribal communities.
“The Tribal Design Forum is determined to create multiple platforms to collaborate and co-create local solutions for local needs and thereby, play an active role in local development for tribal communities,” the release stated.
