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Naree Artisans Movement

Naree Artisans Movement is a group started by three women, for sale Natasha Fernandes, Aira Mirchandani and Milan Khanolkar, who share a passion for traditional Goan handcrafts done by women. The idea is to preserve, revive and contemporize these handcrafts.

Aira has extensive experience in the garment industry in Mumbai, Natasha works at the Museum of Christian Art, Old Goa and Milan Khanolkar is an artist and illustrator working with media like clay and paper.

Currently the focus of NAM is on the Goan method of making a quilt (godri). The godri which once was a must have in every home, has now been replaced by polyester blankets, different kinds of coverings or quilts made in Jaipur.

In January 2012, under the banner of Needle crafters group, a workshop teaching quilting (sari godri) and patchwork was organized in association with the Govt. College of Home Science, Campal at their campus.  A couple of smaller workshops were organized at Bookworm – a children’s library at Taleigao in June and August 2012. In October 2012, a workshop was organized at the Goa State Museum teaching quilting and patch work to a much wider audience.

Subsequently, in January 2013 Natasha, Milan & Aira jointly conducted another workshop on the sari godri, in collaboration with the Goa State Museum. The response was very encouraging and many women shared their views about the making of Godhris and bonds created through it. This has been the impetus to the formation of the Naree Artisans Movement.

A sari godri used to be made of old pure cotton saris. The voile saris made the softest godri. It comprises of 5 layers of fabric. The other kind is the patchwork godri, made from scraps of any type of fabric. The market rate for stitching a sari godri is approx. Rs 350/- by machine and Rs 850/- by hand.

This March, in collaboration with the Goa State Museum, NAM has started documentation of Old Goan godris focusing on godris which are at least 40 years. The documentation involves photography, documenting the quilting techniques and the traditional designs of Goa, as well as the stories associated with the godris. The two day documentation has thrown up delightful gems in terms of work done by Goan women 50 to 70 years ago. This is an ongoing project and we are looking forward to many more Goan families coming forward to have their old quilts documented, thus sharing their precious quilts with the entire community.

In an effort to contemporize the Goan godri, NAM in collaboration with the Goa State Museum is also organizing  Goa Quilt Design Contest –2013, wherein participants would need to make a quilt entirely by hand using patchwork or saris, and more importantly using new (not traditional) designs.

NAM has also started a center at St.Inez, Panjim where workshops/classes are conducted for persons interested in learning different types of needle work.

 Contact NAM at:  nareeartisansmovement@gmail.com or Natasha Fernandes at 9890031510

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