Archana Jagtap and I founded QuiltCulture in 2015, along with 28 craftswomen in Pune India. Together, we make traditional handstitched Maharashtrian quilts called as Godhari from upcycled, used old fabrics. The women at Quilt Culture come from economically challenged backgrounds. Their family mainly depend upon daily wages.
Since the lockdown in India, It has been three months since the operations of Quilt Culture have stopped. This has made it difficult for them to earn a living. Quilt Culture being a small business, could only support women for the first two months, but last month has been critical. Sadly, three of our women had left the city with their families, hoping that at least they will get food in their villages.
We are sincerely trying that none of the remaining women have to go through such situations. We have set up a campaign to provide a basic income to women, which can at least provide food for their families. 50 euro can support a family of four for a month. We hope you can help our community with a contribution.
Thanking you in advance.
Lots of ♡,
Rucha & Archana
The challenging times are not over yet!
The majority of women live in the Kondhava budruk neighborhood of Pune. It is a densely populated lower economic urban village having ongoing issues of sanitation and drainage water management. Having an experience of last year’s flood, we are afraid that the rainy season (starting in June) will make the corona situation worse. We have to slow down the operations for the next three months on a precautionary basis due to possible health hazards.
The corona outbreak has impacted businesses worldwide, resulting in a sudden drop in orders for Quilt Culture products. This financial consequence is creating another challenge in sustaining Quilt Culture itself.
We could only sustain help for the last two months with all our capacity. Considering the ongoing challenges, Archana and I are afraid that we won’t be able to support our women on our own. We aim to provide basic groceries to 25 families for the next 4 months.
Support women at Quilt Culture
Patriarchy is very much evident in the local culture, where most of the women are not allowed to go out and work. The women do quilting work after doing their households, as per the availability of time. It doesn’t have fixed working hours, thus they get paid per quilted piece. The work these women do is not officially recognized. Their profession, unlike that of, for example, farmers, is not registered. Therefore, they haven’t received any government aid yet.
Archana and her family are relatively better off. With the help of her husband, they are providing basic groceries to families in Kondhava neighborhood. Even though they are trying their best, the requirement is greater than our capacity.
I am a visual artist and designer. For me, Quilt Culture started as a community art project to create an ecosystem for craftswomen to take complete ownership of their skills and knowledge to gain financial independence. Happy to share that I completely hand over Quilt Culture to craftswomen in 2017 and since then they own and run the business successfully. Archana is leading their way. But collaborating closely with Quilt Culture in the past few years, sharing stories, and shaping lives together, we have become a family. It is disheartening to see the family fall apart…
I hope we could get through these difficult times with your help. We really appreciate all your help!
If you wish to know more about Quilt Culture, Here is some news link. Please have a look!
Reviving the dying art of Godhadis, Stitch by stitch
https://punemirror.indiatimes.com/pune/civic/reviving-the-dying-artof-godhadis-stitch-by-stitch/articleshow/48443058.cms
Beyond Quilting: Godhadi makes seamless debut in Indo-Dutch collaboration
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/beyond-quilting-godhadi-makes-seamless-debut-in-indo-dutch-collaboration-6136854/
Cross border stitches
https://punemirror.indiatimes.com/entertainment/unwind/crossborder-stitches/articleshow/71986525.cms
Godhadi gets Mediterranean cover (Interview)
https://punemirror.indiatimes.com/pune/others/Godhadi-gets-Mediterranean/articleshow/51112931.cms?
Since the lockdown in India, It has been three months since the operations of Quilt Culture have stopped. This has made it difficult for them to earn a living. Quilt Culture being a small business, could only support women for the first two months, but last month has been critical. Sadly, three of our women had left the city with their families, hoping that at least they will get food in their villages.
We are sincerely trying that none of the remaining women have to go through such situations. We have set up a campaign to provide a basic income to women, which can at least provide food for their families. 50 euro can support a family of four for a month. We hope you can help our community with a contribution.
Thanking you in advance.
Lots of ♡,
Rucha & Archana
The challenging times are not over yet!
The majority of women live in the Kondhava budruk neighborhood of Pune. It is a densely populated lower economic urban village having ongoing issues of sanitation and drainage water management. Having an experience of last year’s flood, we are afraid that the rainy season (starting in June) will make the corona situation worse. We have to slow down the operations for the next three months on a precautionary basis due to possible health hazards.
The corona outbreak has impacted businesses worldwide, resulting in a sudden drop in orders for Quilt Culture products. This financial consequence is creating another challenge in sustaining Quilt Culture itself.
We could only sustain help for the last two months with all our capacity. Considering the ongoing challenges, Archana and I are afraid that we won’t be able to support our women on our own. We aim to provide basic groceries to 25 families for the next 4 months.
Support women at Quilt Culture
Patriarchy is very much evident in the local culture, where most of the women are not allowed to go out and work. The women do quilting work after doing their households, as per the availability of time. It doesn’t have fixed working hours, thus they get paid per quilted piece. The work these women do is not officially recognized. Their profession, unlike that of, for example, farmers, is not registered. Therefore, they haven’t received any government aid yet.
Archana and her family are relatively better off. With the help of her husband, they are providing basic groceries to families in Kondhava neighborhood. Even though they are trying their best, the requirement is greater than our capacity.
I am a visual artist and designer. For me, Quilt Culture started as a community art project to create an ecosystem for craftswomen to take complete ownership of their skills and knowledge to gain financial independence. Happy to share that I completely hand over Quilt Culture to craftswomen in 2017 and since then they own and run the business successfully. Archana is leading their way. But collaborating closely with Quilt Culture in the past few years, sharing stories, and shaping lives together, we have become a family. It is disheartening to see the family fall apart…
I hope we could get through these difficult times with your help. We really appreciate all your help!
If you wish to know more about Quilt Culture, Here is some news link. Please have a look!
Reviving the dying art of Godhadis, Stitch by stitch
https://punemirror.indiatimes.com/pune/civic/reviving-the-dying-artof-godhadis-stitch-by-stitch/articleshow/48443058.cms
Beyond Quilting: Godhadi makes seamless debut in Indo-Dutch collaboration
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/beyond-quilting-godhadi-makes-seamless-debut-in-indo-dutch-collaboration-6136854/
Cross border stitches
https://punemirror.indiatimes.com/entertainment/unwind/crossborder-stitches/articleshow/71986525.cms
Godhadi gets Mediterranean cover (Interview)
https://punemirror.indiatimes.com/pune/others/Godhadi-gets-Mediterranean/articleshow/51112931.cms?
Organizer
Rucha Kulkarni
Organizer