KHAMIR Craft Resource Centre

Since 2003, KHAMIR has worked to sustain local livelihoods and to empower creative industries in Kachchh Gujarat. 

Its first initiative is the KHAMIR- Craft Resource Centre which aims to revitalize, reposition, and promote Kachchh’s traditional crafts for the region’s 60,000 artisan families.  In this drought prone region, craft is a way of life, a creative industry, and a key to sustainable livelihoods.

Facilitates artisans’ access to the services they need to revitalize and reposition the craft industry.

KHAMIR- Craft Resource Centre is a collaborative institution. Its stakeholders include artisans, organizations committed to Kachchh and its crafts, and individuals with expertise in craft and craft-related services. KHAMIR's stakeholders work together to identify the challenges facing each craft sector and to facilitate access to the services needed to revitalize and reposition Kachchh's craft industry.

KHAMIR's Craft Focal Points identify, address, and coordinate the prioritized needs of Kachchh's handloom weaving, ajrakh block printing, leather craft, lac turned wood, metal bell, pottery, and silver jewellery craft sectors. Its Artisan Service Centres complement the Craft Focal Points' work by providing artisan credit, design facilitation, documentation, trade facilitation, and value added services that include a natural dyeing facility, textile quality laboratory, raw material depot, and tailoring unit.

Initiated in Partnership

KHAMIR was initiated in partnership by Kachchh Nav Nirman Abhiyan (KNNA) and the Nehru Foundation for Development (NFD) following the 2001 earthquake. KHAMIR began its work to sustain local livelihoods and empower the creative industries in Kachchh, Gujarat in 2003. It was registered as an organization in 2005. With the support of the Confederation of India Industry (CII) and the Government of Gujarat, KHAMIR established its 2007 campus. This campus is the centre of KHAMIR's operations and initiatives.

Objectives

• Identify and address the individual technological, market-based, ecological, socio-economic, and cultural issues confronting each sector and threatening its sustainability.
• Forge and facilitate creative partnerships between the artisan community and a global community of professionals and institutions working in the fields of design, management, information servicing, business development, training and marketing.
• Provide a common roof where artisans and experts with a commitment to Kachchh craft can exchange knowledge, build business and technical capacities, and ensure the best manifestation of regional art and craft.
• Empower artisans to preserve and enrich their craft traditions, while ensuring improved livelihoods and incomes.
• Facilitate trade while maintaining craft quality and fair trade practices.
• Source and introduce relevant resources, services, and user-friendly production tools and technologies to rejuvenate each sector.
• Provide core development services including credit and insurance.