For 30 Yrs, One Lady Helps Keep Alive a fifteenth Century Workmanship That Sells Across The World

Business visionary Arati Hiremath has attempted to keep the Kasuti type of weaving alive for the last 30-odd years, and her endeavor Artikrafts sells this antiquated weaving across the world, seeing turnovers with lakhs consistently.

This year on 12 January, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in Hubli, Karnataka to inaugurate the 26th edition of the National Youth Festival, he was draped in a peculiar shawl with motifs representing temple decor in red embroidery, which stood out against the soft white of the cloth. This shawl was a product of Artikrafts — a handicrafts venture that focuses on kasuti embroidery — designed by Bengaluru native and founder Arati Hiremath. 

The story of Arati conceptualizing the venture dates back to 1989, which was the year she married into a family in Dharwad, Karnataka. As the B.Com graduate recounts to The Better India, this shift of cities was not only the beginning of her new life as a married woman but also the foundation for her entrepreneurial journey. 

Today, Artikrafts is reviving the “languishing craft” of kasuti embroidery, which has a beautiful history of its own, entwined in the fabric of time. The kasuti embroidery is believed to have originated around the 15th century during the reign of the Chalukya dynasty and was only made by women in Karnataka. During this period, they would adorn their outfits with this form of embroidery, and some of the motifs were even inspired by rangoli designs. 

The embroidery form is unique as, unlike its counterparts, it cannot be done on pencil patterns that are traced on the material. When an artisan begins kasuti embroidery, it is on a blank canvas of cloth, and here is where the challenge lies. Once complete, the design looks the same on both the right and wrong sides of the cloth, which makes this embroidery form unique. 

The journey of Artikrafts started with a couple of women coming to visit Arati in her Dharwad home in 1990, asking her if she could give them some work. Excited to help the women, Arati began by putting them in touch with shops in Bengaluru where they could get regular orders. They were enthusiastic that we do something for the craftsmen of India, and building on this, we started SEMA (Society For Empowerment And Mobilisation Of Artisans) that same year, she notes. 

SEMA focused on women artisans from Dharwad who were trained in kasuti embroidery, but could not find work anymore due to low demand. It also helped artisans who wished to learn this form of embroidery. While disappointed that the dream had come to an end, Arati says the program had fuelled in her a zeal to empower artisans in any way that she could. 

They offered to start a Facebook page for us and create an online marketplace where we could sell the embroidered sarees, says Arati, adding that this was a turning point for them. All around India, people had suddenly taken an interest in traditional crafts and were motivated to try out new patterns. The artisan counts the threads on each pattern, and it takes months of practice before she is well-versed in this embroidery, says Arati. 

“We have trained 850 artisans so far, and have 200 active ones,” she notes, adding that Artikrafts retails to brands like Fabindia, iTokri, etc. And ships pan India and even abroad to the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and Singapore. Artikrafts sees monthly orders of around 50 sarees, says Arati, and witnesses a turnover of “around Rs 40 lakh per year”. 

Thinking back on the last 32 years, Arati says the journey has been nothing short of fascinating, but also fulfilling. I got to be a part of reviving this heritage form of embroidery that would otherwise have been lost in time. 

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