Significance of Craft Mapping
Along with mapping of Crafts, mapping of Craftspeople and Craft Enterprises acts as the
first step towards understanding the scale of the crafts within a particular
region. This information helps in understanding a specific or various crafts
and their associations as well as it also helps in identifying the craft
cluster/s within particular region. The information collected through mapping
becomes a foundation to generate various decisions related to craft policies.
It is also a primary step leading to detailed research, documentation and
analysis of the selected craft. The data also helps in analysing various issues
related to the crafts in the region and henceforth take necessary actions to
enhance or revive the crafts.
The Craft Mapping has got four stages:
Mobile Application Form:
In order to conduct a visual-based mapping survey through mobile or tablet, a Mobile Application Form using ODK platform is developed through the process of research, trial-error experimentation and pilot project conducted by the researchers of DICRC. The interactive form is designed to record in detail the information about numerous types of Craft practices along with the craft process, the tools and equipments used during the process, application of the craft and the products created therein. The products can vary from Interior Architecture elements like wall, floor, ceiling, roof, door, window, column, bracket, stair, balcony and jharokha, parapets and railings, arches, entablature, etc to Furniture elements like bed, table, storage, chair, sofa, bench, stool, partition, swing, etc to objects and accessories.The form also records data related to the Craftspeople, such as their skills, expertise and their experience of working with the craft.
The recorded data reveal information ranging from type and location of the craft to materials used to the various levels of process involved. The Mobile Application Form can also be easily adapted for survey in different regions of the country, even though they differ in the making and expressions of the various crafts related to Interior Architecture.
Field work and Mapping:
It involves travelling extensively through various towns, villages and cities to collect data using the mobile or tablet. The process also includes photographic documentation to aid the interactive Mobile Application Form. The photography ranges from various craft techniques, the processes, tools and equipments, applications etc, as well as that of the craftsperson. The findings are recorded using the Form, and are immediately uploaded to dedicated server in real time from the field. The process is significant as it involves participation of the local people in gathering the data, and the process being mobile-based makes it user friendly and inexpensive in operation. The simple interface of the Form allows many more users from various fields to get involved and contribute to the data collection, which can be validated by the experts.
Categorization and Inventory management:
The Mapping produces comprehensive information, which consists of Images and associated data. This process uses Aggregate facility of the ODK, which helps manage the transferred data and use them in an organised way. Once the mapping data gets transmitted through the Mobile Application Form from the field, it gets delivered on to a dedicated server and is stored there. The ODK Aggregate allows the stored data to be displayed in a tabular form, and creates sections as per questions on the Form. This facilitates the study and analysis of crafts and craftspeople, either within a single category or across various sections at the same time. ODK also enables the researchers to form analytical charts or pie diagrams to understand the mapped data. The dataset can be exported in the form of CSV files for spreadsheets or as KML files for Google Earth or Google Map, to analyse and understand the amount of data generated from the field work. This recordings could be also be transformed to Google Fusion Tables and directly be published on external systems for public viewing.
Dissemination:
The final data acts as the foundation for selection of the Traditional or Vernacular Crafts for detailed documentation as well as Craftspersons Directory. Each image and its reference content are being verified and uploaded on the Interactive Online Map. This data is also used to generate an extensive Craftspeople Directory which will be a comprehensive set of images and associated data about the craft techniques as well as objects and accessories associated with traditional and vernacular crafts. The Map will be part of the Online Interactive Building Lab.Until recently, the inventories conducted for built heritage have been very nominal in nature and completely overlook its magnificence. These Traditional and Vernacular buildings are embedded with empirical knowledge systems, which include an indigenous use of materials and varied craft techniques. This imperative need of identifying and creating a detailed inventory of the prime specimens of these buildings of India gave rise to the Building Mapping project. The main intention is to create a comprehensive visual data bank about the various Interior Architecture elements, Furniture, Objects and Accessories as well as the Space Making Crafts (SMC) and Surface Narrative Crafts (SNC) related to the Traditional and Vernacular Architecture of India. This data will act as a valuable educational data to various students, craftspeople, educators, design professionals, conservationist, and all those related to the field of Art, Craft, Design and Architecture.