Trinjan
Trinjan, in rural Punjab, was the space where women would traditionally gather to spin on charkhas, weave, talk, counsel, learn from each other, cook and eat together. In the assaults made by Green Revolution, this culture of community gatherings in disguise of artistic activities was lost.
KVM has revived this culture through its project TRINJAN. It is providing women artisans a platform to re-explore their art, earn livelihood and share their wisdom.
TRINJAN is an extension of Kheti Virasat’s Mission for Rural Livelihood through Traditional Skills. To revive the great knowledge of textile and handicrafts that women had, TRINJAN started in 4 villages in 2017. The self-reliance of cloth, aka 'Vastra Swavlambham’, which was once a part and parcel of our culture, was lost long ago. Most of the spinners and weavers were women. They were also actively involved in agriculture and dairy activities. In the course of industrialisation and modernization, most of them lost their patience and interest amid the flood of easily accessible ready-made garments and limited themselves to household chores. The charkhas were abandoned and the weavers were out of practice. KVM identified these women artisans, most of them from poor financial backgrounds, and encouraged them to restart their work professionally, with KVM.
Under the umbrella of TRINJAN, we also organise festive gatherings known as Trinjan Melas, exhibitions with live demonstrations, traditional food festivals and cultural programmes.
Organic indigenous Cotton grown by the farmers, is procured by KVM at premium prices, hand spun, naturally dyed and hand woven by the rural artisans. Along with this, there are women artisans who do hand embroidery, crochet, Knitting, make different grass crafts and other decorative products.
We are constantly working on the quality of the yarn, fabric, designing, productivity and marketing through regular trainings of women. For this, we have a network of experts and various organisations across India, which is constantly evolving.
| Stakeholder | Intervention |
|---|---|
| Cotton farmers | Provide training on organic practices; buy cotton on premium price |
| Spinners | Provide them with tools and raw material; conduct trainings to hone their skills |
| Natural dyers | Standardise natural dyes; train the youngsters in the art of dyeing |
| Weavers and Embroiders | Work on the fusion of traditional and contemporary designs; quality control |
| Tailors | Work on the customized designs; maintain quality and enhance the productivity |
| Buyers | Provide fabric with the compassionate warp and delicated weft carefully crafted by artistic hands |
These hardworking women make beautiful creative products including bedsheets, khes (topsheet), towels, stolls, mufflers, fabric for garments, darri, mats, rugs, woolen sweater, phulkaris, hand woven baskets, crochet earrings, toran, coasters, wall hangings etc. These products are than marketed by KVM on various public platforms.
Rimpy Kaur (18)
Natural dyer
Rimpy Kaur is from Kotli village in Muktsar district. With her academic background in fashion, she developed a quick passion for natural dyeing. We trained her into using all-natural plant materials to make dyes for the thread, including marigold flowers, carrots, onion skin, babul (gum arabic) bark, pomegranate skin, eucalyptus bark and much more. She attended regular trainings. Thus, not just her skills developed but also her wisdom. She understood that artificial dyes cause skin irritations and infections; thus switching to natural dyes is the need of the hour. TRINJAN has also given this young adult, a source of earning bread and butter, working from home. As people started acknowledging her work through KVM, her confidence is boosted by leaps and bounds. She says, “I will be glad to train others and share this art I have learnt through KVM. I will, happily, carry on with this work as it gives me deep creative satisfaction.” Rimpy represents the youth, which if provided with appropriate guidance and skills, can bring a change in the outlook of youngsters.
Gagandeep Kaur (26)
Embroider and Tailor
Ramandeep Kaur (23)
Spinner
Sinderpal Kaur (57)
Weaver
Aasha Rani (70)
Basket Weaver
If the traditional art, handicraft and culture linkages amuses you, Join as a volunteer to help us further explore, document, expand and evolve TRINJAN.
This project is supported by donations. Donate here for a cause.