This project explores the life stories of artisans who work with three South Indian textile traditions: Kalamkari printing, Pochampally Ikat weaving, and Kawandi quilt-making. It asks how their own stories might change the way Indian crafts are understood, represented, and valued. Much of the writing on craft, both in academia and in the fashion industry, focuses on materials, techniques, and heritage. Yet the lived experiences of the makers themselves are rarely heard. This research seeks to address that gap by listening closely to artisans’ accounts of their work, their communities, and their sense of belonging within wider cultural and economic systems.

The study uses oral histories and immersive ethnography to record these narratives and interpret them through the lens of postcolonial, decolonial, and narrative theory. It examines how histories of colonialism, as well as modern global markets, have shaped what is known and told about Indian craft traditions.

By bringing artisans’ reflections into conversation with existing scholarship, the project aims to expand how we think about creativity and cultural labour in India. It shows that crafts are not only forms of inherited skill or sources of livelihood, but also living practices that express identity, emotion, and imagination. Ultimately, the research hopes to foreground artisans as authors of their own stories and as vital voices in rethinking the meanings of craft today.