Craft village at Bantala

Abstract

"A craft is a traditional branch of profession which requires some special skills of work experience and talent. In historical sense, particularly as pertinent to the Medieval history and earlier, the term is usually applied for the people who are engaged in small scale production of goods and made from locally available materials. The meaning of craft and its values are ever-changing with development of new techniques and methods. Craft village is a attracting stop for the urban users and also offers a unique variety of craft related activities and programmes. It is intended to be a “must visit" tourist destination. In this village, visitors will learn about Bengali handicraft through craft demonstrations & hands-on interactive sessions. Visitors will experience the interactive handicraft making besides viewing the techniques in which they make such fine masterpieces. It also accommodates various trading units. This project intends to provide spaces with forms and functions to foster the development of crafts that Bengal is known for. The art and craft gallery housed in its premises displays wide collections of handicraft products/artefacts based on time-honoured Bengali craft traditions. The core concept of the Craft gallery is knowledge sharing and highlights the craft heritage of west Bengal and local handicraft production technologies. One more aspect of craft village is to provide experience to user group and also encourage user to live in particular environment.so for promoting crafts experience a luxury unit is added. There are many handicrafts promoting agency in west Bengal. They are private, semi-government and government agency with different scope and scale. But they lack adequate space which truly acknowledges the production, promotion and display of crafts. The project has opted for traditional principles in architectural design –character of a traditional settlement."