Hi, this is Rashmi. We run a social impact enterprise called Studio Coppre. We're based in Pune, India, and today I'd like to talk to you a little about what we do, what our inspirations were, and really, what motivates us to do the kind of work we do. So, basically, we're addressing two needs through our project. One, the need to have an inclusive growth for hand-crafting artisans in India, that is to make sure that artisans are brought into the socio-economic mainstream. And the second need is to address the need of customers for high quality handcrafted wares. Okay, so I'm a product designer, and basically also I have a degree in architecture, and for many years I ran a product design and a graphic design consultancy firm initially along with a friend, and later on, along with my spouse. While the work was great and we had a number of projects and they were wide ranging from designing let's say a table fan, to a telephone. This was about let's say 15 years ago and we did toothbrushes, we did a lot of packaging design work, we also did many exhibitions in most of the important exhibitions of the time in India, and a lot of graphic design work which included collaterals for many of the big corporates. So, well, our studio was buzzing and yes, we have a lot of work, but for me personally, there were something missing. And I wasn't very happy with the selection, I wasn't very happy with what went out to the customer eventually in terms of the designing we did. While I was convinced about the work and about the market acceptability of our designs, what I was unhappy with was the actual selection that happened at the marketing level of the companies we worked with. We have visitors who came in to Pune and they wanted to see what was special about Pune, and so one of the things I always took them to was this craft called Tambat Ali which was in the heart of Pune and this craft comprised artisans who worked, basically coppersmiths. So It's actually a 400 year old craft dating back to the time when Pune was a small settlement. Basically Tamat Ali comprises artisans who are coppersmiths and primarily they work with the material copper. Tambat in the local langauge Marathi means copper, and they're very closely identified with this material. Generations of artisans from Tamat Ali have worked with copper. The signing feature about this craft is the hand beaten work, and each artisan has his own style. >> What is this product, this is? >> Okay, so this is a food platter, and basically it's made from a sheet. So these craftspeople work with sheets, and there are various ways of working with metal. You can form metal, you can machine it from a block or a plate or you can take a sheet and shape it up. So, the basic process of this is that craftspeople acquire sheets and they cut them out into circles, and the circle is placed against a dye or a mold, and copper being soft, at a speed it is pressed against the mold to give it a shape. Later on, it is hand beaten. >> So the texture that I see on this is all created by hand? >> It's completely hand made, and for an object like this we've counted there could be close to around 3000 strokes of the hammer. >> So what does the hammer tone do to the product itself? >> So copper is a soft material and for it to retain a shape, what you need to do is, so the beaten work gives it a strength. It's much like paper folding, if a sheet of paper is folded it's stronger. In the same way, beaten work gives coper its strength, which helps maintain the dimensions of the product. And the other thing is that copper shows up scratches. Since it's soft, it shows up defects and it shows up scratches, so the beaten work hides these imperfections in both the making and the original material itself. Now when I look at this texture and I look at this, I see they're different. These look like squarish marks, and these are different shape. How does that happen? >> Yeah, so the artisans use different hammerheads to achieve the hand beaten work. Each artisan has his signature style, so if you look at the products that we worked with over the past years, we can by now tell which artisan has worked on which product. >> So there's an unique signature in each product of the artisan who's worked on it. >> That's right. The beaten work is a combination of the profile of the hammer head and the profile of the base in between which the copper product is sandwiched when the beaten work is done. >> So the anvil and hammer, sort of. >> Yes, the anvil and the hammer, basically. So, more or less we define what kind of beaten work we want on each product, depending on the proportion of the product, the size, the use, and the overall impact and effect that we want the product to have. The other thing that the beaten work does is that it imparts a kind of a shine to the product. The numerous facets created by the beaten work make it react differently in different kinds of light and gives copper a nice blinky look, which is a feature of this craft community in Pune. >> So can you tell us about this product, how was this shaped and how was texture created and what purpose it serves? >> Okay so basically most of the products we work with or most of the products that we've designed have, I think, a good marriage between functionality, utility, the material itself, and the traditional hand working process. Traditionally in India, drinking water out of copper has been known to have certain health benefits, so we've utilized that or rather we've been inspired by this fact and we've created what we call a bedset carafe. It's in a new it has a modern appearance, but yet it keeps the traditional handcrafting process as well as a traditional inspiration. >> So in a sense what I see here, it's a beautiful object, it has utility as well, and you have sustained a certain tradition over the years. >> That's right, we wanted this to be a stand alone kind of piece that you could place next to your bed side and fill it the night before and first thing you do in the morning is you pour out two glasses of water and that copper charge water is good first thing in the morning. So basically we have incorporated a glass as well so it's one complete product, you don't have to run around for a glass. >> And new research also shows that copper has antimicrobial properties and so, it's been used in hospital and things as well for things like railings and countertops, etc. >> That's right, so we've run some lab tests with water that's kept in contact with copper and we found the microbial count of all the water goes down over a period of eight hours. So, obviously, there is some wisdom in the traditional idea that copper charged water is good for health >> So do you work closely with the artisans in Tambat Ali? >> Yes, very closely, In fact when we approach them for products, it's a long process of sitting side by side with the artisan and figuring out the problems of a new product. Traditionally, artisans are used to working on the same products for generation. So let's say you're born into an artisanal family. You've seen the same product being fashioned year on year by, let's say your father, your brothers, your uncles, and the extended community. >> So in a sense it's not learning that you have to do in a classroom, it's a learning that happens because of the environment you're brought up in. Whereas when we introduce new designs, and we have a design intervention with craft communities and artisans, at every instance the artisan has to re-learn a product, has to learn a new design which is quite time consuming. So most of our pieces we like to treat as heirloom pieces which you can pass down generations. For instance, if you give this to somebody, copper's a material that is 100% recyclable. >> It's sustainable. >> It's very sustainable. So and at the same time you can pass it from generation to generation, so we like to treat the products that we work with and that's the underlying concept to our products >> What I find really remarkable about these products is that they're incredibly unique in their appearance, they're beautiful, there's a tradition that's involved in them. They are also extremely durable, if you can pass this on from generation to generation, they can live a long time. And they carry a story, they a story of design, a story of crafts, and a story of tradition that exists only in this part of Pune in India. >> That's right, so some of our products have new interpretations like, for instance, I mean, this to the craftspeople would be just a disk. >> So people would not be used to making something like this? >> Not at all, whereas this one, this one they've seen in their communities and in their families, and this they identify with closely. So there are some products which are really alien, whereas there are some which craftspeople are closely associated with. >> More familiar to them. >> More familiar with. Crafts people, when we started working with them they were skeptical, they said, who is going to buy these products? Because they've been used to supplying and working for traditional markets. Let's say they have a bunch of, around 10 to 12 designs, which they have been making for generations, but somewhere around the 80s, With the coming of steel and plastics in India, the market for copper products saw a decline. And the main reason for that was there were no new interpretations in terms of designs, and no reaching out to new markets. We're a team of four people, four women. I do most of the designing, which means doing the prototyping, helping the craftspeople develop new tools, explaining the processes to the craftspeople for our new product, also a lot of the quality checking and basically right up to all the design processes that are involved up to the first batch production. We have Chanda she looks after the finances and the production and timely deliveries which is difficult in a craft project so she takes care of that. Looks after market outreach, she's always talking to customers, figuring out customer needs, and also building your market. Looks after online marketing, so we have a presence on all social media. Basically, she features this project in the digital space. All of us are involved with product planning, so from time to time, we have to put our heads together to discuss where we can take copper, what our customer needs, how we can create new markets for copper, and how new products can be made so as to access these markets.
