ESG EFFECT — Living & Learning Design Centre (LLDC)
Preserving our cultural heritage
In January 2016, Shrujan sponsored and set birth to the “Living and Learning Design Centre” (LLDC) - a textile museum and craft training centre. Through this, we have undertaken several projects to revive forgotten embroidery designs to research the embroidery heritage of Kachchh, ; to record it through books and films,; to enable embroidery craftswomen to create new designs and learn from one another.
LLDC’s main aim is to train, educate and support craftspeople to practise their traditional vocation, thereby creating products that contemporary markets find compelling. By doing so, LLDC is able to effectively commercialise the work of local artisans so that they can earn a dignified and prosperous livelihood.
LLDC is a pioneering effort of the Shrujan Trust to preserve, revitalise, and promote the glorious craft heritage of Kachchh by training and supporting the craftspeople so as to empower them for earning a dignified livelihood.
Dedicated to the craftspeople of Kachchh, LLDC is envisioned as a multi-dimensional craft centre for education and resource archival. It is situated in a campus comprising three buildings, nestled within a sprawling 8-acre plot in Ajrakhpur, Kachchh. The Centre’s essential activities and facilities include an international standard Crafts Museum with three galleries for display as well as a hands-on gallery. The museum complex also houses the crafts archives and conservation laboratories and a Crafts Studio where young, talented craftspeople are invited to create innovations that have market potential and are highly creative workshops. They also have short courses for skill development and creativity enhancement.
In January 2020, LLDC had organised the five -day-long. “Folk Festival of Kachchh with Jammu & Kashmir – an expression of unity in diversity,” and celebrated the crafts, dances, music and food from both regions.
Shrujan & Living and Learning Design Centre (LLDC)
The Shrujan Trust is a not for profit, non governmental organization based in Kachchh. A pioneer in craft revival and craft entrepreneurship since 1969, Shrujan revived the traditional and personal craft of embroidery and transformed it into a socially motivated craft enterprise to enable rural craftswomen to earn a home based, dignified and sustainable alternate livelihood.
During its 50 year old journey, Shrujan has empowered over 20,000 craftswomen living in 120 remote villages to become self-sufficient. The women belong to 12 different communities and practice over 50 different embroidery styles. The empowerment has also raised the status of women in the community. Women are not only respectfully recognized as earning members but also as creative people who are praised and felicitated, who have won national and international awards and whose work is so excellent that it is displayed in the LLDC Museum.
Shrujan commits itself to the well-being of all the crafts of Kachchh. This culminated in the establishment of the Living and Learning Design Centre (LLDC), a crafts education and resource centre.
The Shrujan Trust is a not for profit, non governmental organization based in Kachchh. A pioneer in craft revival and craft entrepreneurship since 1969, Shrujan revived the traditional and personal craft of embroidery and transformed it into a socially motivated craft enterprise to enable rural craftswomen to earn a home based, dignified and sustainable alternate livelihood.
Having dedicated most of her life to the craft of embroidery, she wanted to create a living and learning environment that would embrace all the crafts; where activities and facilities would be designed not only to preserve the crafts heritage, but also safeguard the future of the crafts and the livelihood of the craftspeople.
LLDC is a one-of-a-kind initiative dedicated to fulfilling the following main objectives: to revive, preserve and safeguard the rich and diverse crafts heritage of Kachchh and promote this unique crafts heritage so that it reignites a sense of pride in the craft communities especially the younger generation- with hopes that it brings art and craft lovers from all over India and the world to Kachchh. Local participation, inclusion and togetherness lie at the heart of LLDC; they also pervade its every activity and facility.