Craft & making

Śilpa explores materials, processes and the knowledge carried through making. What can a woven cloth, a painted scroll or a metal vessel tell us about the hands that made it?

Textiles, metal, clay, wood, painting and architecture offer ways into craft. Alongside the object are the maker’s training, tools, workshop and livelihood: the conditions that allow a practice to continue and change.

Follow craft communities through Samāja, materials and techniques through Vijñāna, and painted or performed stories through Kalā.

Looking closely at making

Makers’ names, images and stories require consent and credit. We distinguish documented processes from origin stories, and legal recognition such as a Geographical Indication from claims about antiquity. Precise chemistry, metallurgy and income claims need their own evidence. See our approach to evidence and attribution.