Crafts Museum, India

Craft continues to be a significant source of livelihood for millions of people, especially in rural India, and the Crafts Museum attempts, through its various programmes, to support their activities. Thus, in addition to the usual educational function of a museum, the Crafts Museum plays a role in advocacy of the craft sector.

What makes the Crafts Museum special and different from many other museums is that it celebrates not old, dead or rare objects, but living craft traditions.

Through its important Crafts Demonstration Programme, around 50 craftspersons are invited each month to show their skills, sell their wares and interact with visitors. Often, what is seen inside the museum galleries is also being made outside. The visitor can watch an object come into being, and appreciate the – often highly elaborate and skilful – processes involved in the handmade. Permanent Collections: 30,000 objects On display: 3,000 in the galleries of the Museum. The rest are housed in the Museum store where many objects are kept in visual storage for easy access and reference. Apart from a large and impressive collection of textiles, the Museum Collection consists of objects in a range of media: metal, wood, stone, ivory, paper, papier mache, cane and bamboo, terracotta, cloth. The particular objects include sarees, shawls, costumes, metal icons, lamps, incense burners, ritual accesories, items of everyday life, wood carvings, painted wood and sculptures, terracotta pots and figurines, sculpted ivory, playing cards, jewellery, folk and tribal art.