CyberFair Project ID: 8658

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International Schools CyberFair Project Narrative
Title: Embroidery The Canva of Love and Imagination
Category: 4. Local Specialties
URL: https://cyberfair2022.aravaliinternational.repl.co/
Bibliography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embroidery_of_India

School: Aravali International School
    Faridabad, Haryana, India

20 students, ages 14-17 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on March 4, 2022. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 2020,2021

Classes and Teachers: Kanika Kapoor, Mayank Handa, Vinita Khaneja, Anuradha Singh,Punita Khanna,Debapriya Gaur

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://aravali.edu.in/index.php/institutions-85/

Project Overview

1. Description of Our Community

For millennia, crafters have continuously found ways to turn everyday objects into works of art. While this interest has culminated in a myriad of decorative art forms, none has resonated quite as strongly as embroidery. The story of embroidery is the story of the world. Embroidery has existed, in some form, in every population across the globe. Whether it’s displayed on clothing, home goods, or as an artwork, it’s a timeless craft that is an integral part of our material culture. Traditional embroidery styles are known for their simplicity. Practised by rural people, Indian Embroidery was done on soft dhotis and sarees, with a simple running stitch along the edges. Interestingly, the thread used to do that was drawn from the border threads of the used cloth. Characterized by motifs of birds, animals, flowers and everyday activities in a running stitch format with short gaps, the Indian embroidery today adorns sarees, dress materials, bed covers, wall hangings, upholstery and a lot more. With the advent of machine produced goods, many of the Indian traditional artisans have had to face intense competition from growing in the industrial sector. However, the inventiveness of the Indian craftsman and the various efforts at development that has been invested over the years in human resource development and in product innovation and promotion, has strengthened their ability to face this competition with great success. Today the Indian Craftsmen face many difficulties from the traditional role of providing all the artifacts of village life, many crafts have over the years transformed themselves to becoming high citadels of skill through the active patronage of the state, local culture and religion etc.

2. Summary of Our Project

Embroidery in India weaves a wide variety of styles that come from different regions and areas. Embroidery is an art on the closely knitted cloth canvas. From its origin of traditional threads to the knitting in modern times, Embroidery holds an important place in culture and fashion alike. witnesses some of the finest thread work with varied material that has survived ages and today defines an individual. The north Indian Embroidery has adapted to the changing times yet has managed to remain elegant and sophisticated. Each embroidery technique possesses its specialty and it makes a bold underlined style statement. Indian culture is the heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, belief systems, political systems, artifacts and technologies that originated in or are associated with the ethno-linguistically diverse Indian subcontinent. In a diverse country like India, embroidery has always been the expertise of women, both working and homemakers. For every important moment in a woman’s life like wedding, birth, and religious functions, stitching continues to be a promising skill. Indian embroidery includes a wide variety of regional embroidery styles varying by different regions and materials used. Embroidery is India’s persistent eloquent tradition. Every state and region in India enjoy its own style. Needlework is not the only means of decorating the fabric but the fabrics are also embellished by stories of the community, with motifs emerging from natural surroundings, religious inscriptions, economic state, etc. Embroidery is recaptured as new personification and the manifestation of luxury. Many ancient embroidery styles are being

3. Our Computer and Internet Access

A. Percentage of students using the Internet at home:more than 50%

B. Number of workstations with Internet access in the classroom:more than 6

C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dedicated connection

D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:4-6

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

Embroidery is the traditions of the region which have trickled down through centuries as an effort to preserve them. These craft products were ritualistic as well as utilitarian-daily household products. The embroidery artisans essentially produced for their own consumption or for those in their own village. Traditionally this craft was taken up as a part-time vocation in the off-season months to supplement the income. But with increasing demand of these unique high-quality products, hand embroidery craft has become a commercial activity. Women folk design household products, utilitarian articles and other decorative pieces. With the influx of tourism in the state, the souvenir market has increased manifold. This is the main market source for these artisans. This has rendered most of these activities’ seasonal vocations. The tourist season, during which most of these artisans have their maximum sales. During the lean season most of these artisans shift to other daily wage jobs working as crop cutters, milk maid, and other house hold or construction workers. The souvenir and antique ware traders have monopolized the market and the rates are fixed by them are not negotiable. The emporiums, showrooms and local tourist market are another alternate marketing channel for these artisans. Thread breaks are frustrating for embroidery workers and the digitizing industry. However, you can’t run away from thread breaks. You will encounter them often than any other major issue in the embroidery process. A smart way is to know how to trouble thread breaks rather than running away from it. The only thing you need to do is to the type of thread break you are having. It will enable you to avoid future hassles when you encounter the thread breaks problem again.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

“Every experience , good or bad , is a priceless learning for life”. We would like to express our gratitude to the Global School Net who offered us the opportunity to explore and research different embroidery which are practised in India . We were extremely passionate for working on this project as it seemed to be interesting and full of knowledge. Our mentors helped us in all way possible and tried to pave a easy way so that we can complete our research work efficiently. We have an optimistic approach to most things in life thus without hesitating we enrolled ourselves in this project but later on after doing some research work and going through various materials we were impressed and also amazed as we were going through the rich culture of our country.

6. How did your activities and research for this CyberFair Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship is an apex organization for the development and coordination of the vocational training including vocational training for women in our country. The Ministry conducts the training programmes through the Craftsmen Training Scheme (CTS), Apprenticeship Training Scheme (ATS), Modular Employable Scheme (MES) under the Skill Development Initiative (SDI) Scheme, and Craftsmen Instructor Training Scheme (CITS) to cater to the needs of different segments of the Labour market. The National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT) acts as a central agency to advise Government of India in framing the training policy and coordinating vocational training throughout India. A majority of Indian workforce does not possess marketable skills which is an obstacle in getting decent employment and improving their economic condition. A large number of school drop outs do not have access to skill development for improving their employability. The higher entry requirements and long duration of courses under the formal training system are some of the obstacles for a person of low educational attainment to acquire employable skills. The Ministry is implementing the Modular Employable Skills (MES) under the Skill Development Initiative (SDI) Scheme to provide vocational training to earlier school leavers and existing workers to develop skilled manpower for the industry. Under the Modular Employable Skills, training to earlier school leavers and existing workers,especially in the unorganised sectors, are to be trained for employable skills. Training is provided by registered Vocational Training Providers (VTPs) under the Government, Private Sector, and Industrial establishments located all over the country. Testing of skills acquired informally by an individual under the scheme is tested by Assessing Bodies.

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Project Elements

1) What information tools & technologies did you used to complete your CyberFair project?

At first students started to work on this project in curiosity, however when they started to work deeper on the aspects of Indian embroidery and the project started to become very fascinating and interesting to work upon. It was very exciting to unearth information about the Indian Embroidery. This project aired different Indian embroidery photographs and enlightened our minds about the hidden treasure embroidery. The students used different platforms like replit to build the webpage, Canva and Filmora to design photographs and graphics This generation is definitely more digital and tech savvy. We worked together to design graphics using different resources available offline and online because at this day there are end numbers of resources and we should indeed use the best of it. This project opened a new world of lost glory of embroidery. The community is going to relish the revival of the lost talents of embroidery. This project strengthened the bond between the different generations to collaborate together and create the best graphical experience in the website. The most valuable tools indeed were the ones that were available online as they could be used together which helped us to work on the graphics and the webpage together. We had also used some offline tools and technologies but not on a large scale.

2) In what ways did you act as "ambassadors" and spokespersons for your CyberFair project both on-line and in person.

To properly carry out the research and the interviews, not just one student but all the students have been the ambassador for the project both offline and online. We had to highlight the different Indian embroideries, we had to properly interview the people who knew the best of embroidery, design or find relevant video, audio and graphics. All the students have personally experienced the true meaning of embroidery. We aimed to arouse people's memory for the hidden traditions and to value the traditional embroideries, we would also like to make everyone aware of the workers and the women who have dedicated almost their whole life in doing embroidery for the clothes we wear today or display in shows etc.

3) What has been the impact of your project on your community?

The Indian Handicrafts sector is not only playing significant role in the country’s economy but also providing employment to vast segment of people in rural and semi urban areas. Besides preserving cultural heritage, it is also generating valuable foreign exchange as the manufacturing is mainly with the indigenous raw material. The Handicrafts of India through the ages fascinated the world by its creativity, aesthetics and exquisite craftsmanship. India’s handicrafts are almost inexhaustible with infinite variety which has been refined during course of changing history. The Indian handicrafts are very important in terms of economic development. They provide employment opportunities even with low capita investments and become a prominent income for foreign income. India is one of the leading producers and suppliers of handicraft products in the world. Handicraft production generates substantial foreign exchange by preserving cultural heritage. Handicrafts also leads to the promotion of cultural and economic development for students of art education in higher education. It also fascinated the world by its creativity, aesthetics that are almost inexhaustible which has been modified during the course of time. Embroidery through different phrases has established its own market in the times today from that of its origin. However, innovative and renovation has always kept the old art alive. Embroidery sector is a traditional sector that forms a balance with the modern trends and has now gained popularity over India and abroad. Embroidery provides a good base to Indian economy and the manufacturers

4) How did your project involve other members of your community as helpers and volunteers?

We had interviewed different experienced people and the workers who knew the best of embroidery. This has made all the interviewed people become helpers and volunteers of our research. Those who participated in the research about embroidery experienced the unknown facts about the hidden treasure embroidery. By our Cyberfair project we try our best to promote the homeland embroidery of India and attract more people to pay attention to the continuation of the traditional Indian crafts. Not just to the people who review our website but also ourselves we enlightened our knowledge about the different homeland handicrafts.

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View our CyberFair Project (Project ID: 8658)

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