Days 07 and 08 of the Swinburne + NID Design Anthropology workshop represented a shift in focus from NID in Ahmedabad to Kala Raksha in Tunda Vandh, Kutch, Gujarat. After an over night bus, we arrived at 6:30am in Bhuj. Tired and hungry, we got on a 14 person transporter to arrive at Kala Raksha, who amaze me with their hospitality.
We scattered to showers to refresh and sat down for a wonderful Gujarati breakfast of jalebi, mirchi, fafda. Yummy!
The students were enthralled by the Kala Raksha Museum and Resource Centre, asking Vimal and Mukesh Bhanani, the young directors of the centre, 100s of questions. We then got to meet the famous Rani Ben, who has created the Kala Raksha story in applique.
Then it was time to drive to our home for the next two weeks, the Kala Raksha Vidhyalaya. The staff of KRV and I decided the new schedule for the program:
- 08:30am Breakfast
- 09:30am AM Session Part 1
- 11:00am Tea Break
- 11:15am AM Session Part 2
- 01:00pm Lunch
- 02:00pm Siesta
- 03:45pm Tea Break
- 04:00pm PM Sesson
- 06:00pm Break until dinner
- 08:30pm Dinner
Today, the eighth day of the workshop restarted the academic program with a focus on research ethics for primary research and types of interviews. The students had lots of examples of unethical research practices that have taken place in India, especially in regards to the pharmaceutical industry, but assured me that most University departments require that they go through an ethics process.
The fun part was the afternoon, in which the teams found matches with their artisan partners for the workshop. The students are so gifted at charming the artisans and vice versa. I am looking forward to how the relationships develop over the next two weeks.
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