Watch Jawaja Leatherworkers - Retooling For The Future

This is the incredible story of an artisan community's persistence and resilience using craft as a tool to rebuild their future... 

In 2009, Ashoke Chatterjee and representatives from the Artisan's Alliance of Jawaja were invited to travel from India to speak at the Maiwa Textile Symposium. Right before their intended departure, they were denied entry into Canada and along with it, the opportunity to share their remarkable story of resilience and craft.

Instead, Ashoke and the Jawaja representatives of the leather workers and weavers traveled by train to the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA). There, a virtual connection was established via Skype, linking them to the audience gathered at the Vancouver Museum in British Columbia, Canada.

Despite reduced audio and video quality, their voices carried powerfully across the world. We have adjusted some of the sound using AI tools to be able to bring this presentation to you here 16 years later.