IIT-Hyderabad holds design workshop for Dhokra Art form

Department of Design of IIT-Hyderabad held design workshop for Dhokra Art form with the aim of safeguarding ‘Dhokra crafts of Ojha Gonds Community’ in the state of Telangana.

Objectives of the workshop

The workshop was organised with following objectives:

1. Community building and peer learning for Ojha craftsmen.
2. Creating Sustainable livelihood opportunities for Ojha craftsmen.
3. Documenting traditional process of metallurgy & regional artifacts of Raj Gonds community of Adilabad district.
4. Creating a digital repository of traditional artifacts for tracing design evolution in Ojha Craft.
5. Encouraging younger generations of Ojha families to adapt and safeguard ancestral crafts practices of the community.
6. Generating awareness of traditional craft practices of Ojha community among common people in the region.

Who conducted the workshop?

Workshop on Dhokra crafts of Ojha Gonds of Adilabad was organised by Professor Deepak John Mathew of IIT Hyderabad. It was organised as a part of an ongoing project called “Tangible and Intangible Cultural Heritage of Telangana”. This project is supported by Science and Heritage Research Initiative Programme, Institutional Innovation Centre of IIT Hyderabad and Design Innovation Centre.

Focus of the workshop

• The workshop focuses on training younger generations of Ojha community in traditional Dhokra.
• It aims to retain and sustain traditional craft practices of Ojha’s and to provide them opportunities for generating livelihood from their ancestorial occupation of Dhokra crafts.
• It also aimed to create a digital repository of all artifacts created in workshop by using 3D digital printing and Photogrammetry. It will be useful for researchers in doing further studies.

Dhokra art form

Dhokra art form is non–ferrous metal casting using lost-wax casting technique. This type of metal casting has been used in India for more than 4000 years. Earliest known lost wax artefacts is the “dancing girl of Mohenjo-daro”.

Month: Current Affairs - November, 2021