One industrious designer collaborates with Jaipur Blue Pottery artisans to blend ancient craft with industrial waste, proving that indigenous craftsmanship can drive sustainable, contemporary design forward.
India has the world’s largest concentration of crafts, with over 35,000 products created by the largest artisan population.1 As a young Indian designer, I grew up around a community-craft culture that is both baffling and inspiring. It is integrated into the living systems with the flavor of chai (tea) enhanced by the craftsmanship of the potter with the kulhad (teacup), water cooled in a matka (earthenware vessel), and Diwali lights lit up in handmade clay diyas (lamp vessels). Yet the approach to the sustenance of craft communities and techniques is divided between preservation and romanticizing the past, helping them ‘survive,’ rather than thrive. As a Jaipur native, I studied the craft of Jaipur Blue Pottery to understand the scenario from the ground up.
Jaipur Blue Pottery
Jaipur Blue Pottery is an ancient traditional craft that traveled to Jaipur, India, in the 17th century from Turkey and Persia in terms of technique and color. It is one of the few forms of pottery that does not use clay as the main constituent in the pottery body. They use locally sourced quartz powder, recycled glass, and natural binders to make a clay-like dough. It is a technique that moves with the sun and stops with rain, using multiple days under the sun as a first firing before being decorated in natural pigments and glazed to be fired only once. Jaipur Blue Pottery’s production process is extremely slow and labor-intensive, with 42 steps practiced over 25 days before a firing, making it a challenge for the community to compete with a fast-paced market.
With barely five families left practicing this geographically indicated craft in the city, it is at risk of being endangered. Conversations across craft units discussed material deterioration and a lack of designed objects as major challenges to innovation and progress. The technology has not changed since the 1860s. It appeared as if the craft was set in time, as an artifact, instead of evolving as a living, breathing ecosystem of people, places, and materials.
As a designer and researcher, I observed this scenario as an opportunity to view the craft as an economic and cultural enterprise that needs R&D, just like any organization in the world today. With this perspective, my work seeks to facilitate craft practices to thrive, not just survive, in a way that’s good for people and the planet alike.
Innovation for Craft Preservation
Interacting with artisans and craft units in Jaipur, I learned about the invaluable legacy of indigenous craft—to make with what is locally abundant. Sourcing and supply chains should be easy on people and the planet, so most materials come from around the city, and generations of research and material wisdom have allowed the communities to make the best use of materials around them. I started experimenting to create a stronger material to help diversify the possibilities with Jaipur Blue Pottery in scale and geometry. When asking the provocative questions of innovation within a century-old craft technique, I was inspired by this legacy of noticing what was abundant around me, and the answer was simple—industrial waste. Around 8% of global ceramic production is carried out in the nearby state of Gujarat, India, creating an unimaginable volume of non-recyclable waste. The volume and high-quality ingredients in the fired waste sparked my curiosity for creating new recipes to work within the craft process of Jaipur Blue Pottery.
The initial project was set up as a conversation between a materials lab and a craft workshop, generously supported by Dr. Himmat Singh at the Malviya National Institute of Technology (MNIT, Jaipur) and the Jaipur Blue Pottery artisan community.
Waste-full, not Wasteful—The Origin of new•blue
Over 60 recipes later, we learned that any introduction in the traditional process must be integrated into the craft and its production model. Testing all material properties for strength, the adaptability strategy aimed to introduce a material that would be compatible with the existing handicraft processes, color, and firing technologies. An aesthetic responsibility was considered to keep the blue color, the DNA of the craft, through the testing. Introducing the use of industrial ceramic waste to the craft community was easier than one would imagine, because as a community, they have already been familiar with recycling. For instance, the community has been recycling glass for generations. After months of conversations, research, and reviews, we came up with a recipe that uses recycled sanitary ware as a strengthener in traditional Jaipur Blue Pottery, creating a stronger material for the craft to diversify scale and forms within the traditional technique. The project became the foundation of my practice today—new•blue.
As an interior designer turned product innovator, over the years, I have seen crafted objects diminish from spaces around us for ease and efficiency. I observed and worked across five different craft units in the area, and have learned an aspect of the Jaipur Blue Pottery from every artisan I have had the privilege to observe. After spending time experimenting with the material and understanding the technique, I was excited to create contemporary objects with existing traditional molds. We created a collection of furniture, lighting, and sculptural objects with the new material in traditional Jaipur Blue Pottery, showcasing new possibilities for the craft and the community. It has been a celebration of traditional craft ever since, as we discover new capabilities every day, innovating to preserve the craft while sustaining a culture of making that may thrive, not just survive.
The real impact of our work is seen in intangible moments of conversation with the artisans, who take pride in their work and approach new possibilities in their craft with confidence, embracing it as an ever-evolving creative practice, beyond a livelihood. As the world looks for answers in these challenging times of climate change, I view indigenous craft preservation as climate action, encouraging practices that remain rooted in the philosophy of being kind to ecology and economy alike.
the author Disharee Mathur, a Jaipur native, founded new•blue during her master’s in Innovation Design Engineering (IDE) at the Royal College of Art and Imperial College, London. new•blue is a team of artisans, materials scientists, and designers committed to working with sustainable indigenous craft techniques that help investigate the use of new industrial waste materials responsibly. To learn more about new•blue, visit newblue.in.
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One industrious designer collaborates with Jaipur Blue Pottery artisans to blend ancient craft with industrial waste, proving that indigenous craftsmanship can drive sustainable, contemporary design forward.
Jaipur Blue Pottery
Jaipur Blue Pottery is an ancient traditional craft that traveled to Jaipur, India, in the 17th century from Turkey and Persia in terms of technique and color. It is one of the few forms of pottery that does not use clay as the main constituent in the pottery body. They use locally sourced quartz powder, recycled glass, and natural binders to make a clay-like dough. It is a technique that moves with the sun and stops with rain, using multiple days under the sun as a first firing before being decorated in natural pigments and glazed to be fired only once. Jaipur Blue Pottery’s production process is extremely slow and labor-intensive, with 42 steps practiced over 25 days before a firing, making it a challenge for the community to compete with a fast-paced market.
With barely five families left practicing this geographically indicated craft in the city, it is at risk of being endangered. Conversations across craft units discussed material deterioration and a lack of designed objects as major challenges to innovation and progress. The technology has not changed since the 1860s. It appeared as if the craft was set in time, as an artifact, instead of evolving as a living, breathing ecosystem of people, places, and materials.
As a designer and researcher, I observed this scenario as an opportunity to view the craft as an economic and cultural enterprise that needs R&D, just like any organization in the world today. With this perspective, my work seeks to facilitate craft practices to thrive, not just survive, in a way that’s good for people and the planet alike.
Innovation for Craft Preservation
Interacting with artisans and craft units in Jaipur, I learned about the invaluable legacy of indigenous craft—to make with what is locally abundant. Sourcing and supply chains should be easy on people and the planet, so most materials come from around the city, and generations of research and material wisdom have allowed the communities to make the best use of materials around them. I started experimenting to create a stronger material to help diversify the possibilities with Jaipur Blue Pottery in scale and geometry. When asking the provocative questions of innovation within a century-old craft technique, I was inspired by this legacy of noticing what was abundant around me, and the answer was simple—industrial waste. Around 8% of global ceramic production is carried out in the nearby state of Gujarat, India, creating an unimaginable volume of non-recyclable waste. The volume and high-quality ingredients in the fired waste sparked my curiosity for creating new recipes to work within the craft process of Jaipur Blue Pottery.
The initial project was set up as a conversation between a materials lab and a craft workshop, generously supported by Dr. Himmat Singh at the Malviya National Institute of Technology (MNIT, Jaipur) and the Jaipur Blue Pottery artisan community.
Waste-full, not Wasteful—The Origin of new•blue
Over 60 recipes later, we learned that any introduction in the traditional process must be integrated into the craft and its production model. Testing all material properties for strength, the adaptability strategy aimed to introduce a material that would be compatible with the existing handicraft processes, color, and firing technologies. An aesthetic responsibility was considered to keep the blue color, the DNA of the craft, through the testing. Introducing the use of industrial ceramic waste to the craft community was easier than one would imagine, because as a community, they have already been familiar with recycling. For instance, the community has been recycling glass for generations. After months of conversations, research, and reviews, we came up with a recipe that uses recycled sanitary ware as a strengthener in traditional Jaipur Blue Pottery, creating a stronger material for the craft to diversify scale and forms within the traditional technique. The project became the foundation of my practice today—new•blue.
As an interior designer turned product innovator, over the years, I have seen crafted objects diminish from spaces around us for ease and efficiency. I observed and worked across five different craft units in the area, and have learned an aspect of the Jaipur Blue Pottery from every artisan I have had the privilege to observe. After spending time experimenting with the material and understanding the technique, I was excited to create contemporary objects with existing traditional molds. We created a collection of furniture, lighting, and sculptural objects with the new material in traditional Jaipur Blue Pottery, showcasing new possibilities for the craft and the community. It has been a celebration of traditional craft ever since, as we discover new capabilities every day, innovating to preserve the craft while sustaining a culture of making that may thrive, not just survive.
The real impact of our work is seen in intangible moments of conversation with the artisans, who take pride in their work and approach new possibilities in their craft with confidence, embracing it as an ever-evolving creative practice, beyond a livelihood. As the world looks for answers in these challenging times of climate change, I view indigenous craft preservation as climate action, encouraging practices that remain rooted in the philosophy of being kind to ecology and economy alike.
the author Disharee Mathur, a Jaipur native, founded new•blue during her master’s in Innovation Design Engineering (IDE) at the Royal College of Art and Imperial College, London. new•blue is a team of artisans, materials scientists, and designers committed to working with sustainable indigenous craft techniques that help investigate the use of new industrial waste materials responsibly. To learn more about new•blue, visit newblue.in.
1 www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/asia-pacific-handicrafts-market.
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