Insights of 23 women artisans from J&K shared at Yakjah peacebuilders convention in Colombia – Rising Kashmir

Article from news site Rising Kashmir: Yakjah Reconciliation and Development Network 7 peacebuilders working on the ‘Culture and Conflict’ project, one of the 39 projects across 6 primary streams of Gender, Justice and Security Hub by the London School of Economics, participated in the third convention held by the Hub from July 15 to 22, 2023 in Colombia. The convention brought together practitioners and academicians including researchers, scholars, professors. The hub which includes more than 130 members also explored the hub model as a way of researching gender, justice and security through feminist ethics and practice. Speaking at the Convention, Yakjah researchers in a joint session on ‘Reflections; Research, Practice and Ethics’ shared their insights from their project involving 23 women artisans from Jammu and Kashmir. Sharing their personal stories of stepping into the craft ecosystem, Anamika Bharti from Jammu and Urzeeba Bhat from Kashmir highlighted how design innovation training of the women artisans was a transformative experience for them. “Collaboration between artisans, designers, technologists, businesspeople, non-profits, etc for developing the existing crafts to meet the market demands is crucial. When innovation is discussed, transformation occurs. Transformation results in ecosystem change,” said Bharti. Bhat too emphasized the need for training women in skill enhancement and exploring new markets. “The most important thing that I learned in this project was to visualize and create new designs for that I learned how to print them, a skill dominated by men known as chapawalas”.
RK News (2023) Insights of 23 women artisans from J&K shared at Yakjah peacebuilders convention in Colombia; Rising Kashmir