Malini ✽ Handmade Necklace ✽ 39

Banjara art has been inherited from generation to generation, from mother to daughter. As they lived in the forests, ready-made clothes were not available so they used old clothes and created new ones through patchwork and quilt techniques. That is when their craft originated. About 80 stitches and techniques are part of the embroidery. The traditional Lambani embroideries are designed for a nomadic lifestyle, featuring geometric, floral and animal motifs. The combinations of stitches and mirror work are worked out extraordinarily with vibrant colour, making the design strikingly different.

Though the community is a treasure of rich information, culture, tradition, Indian ethos but they have their own inherited beleaguered problems in the society. They live mostly in the inaccessible or remotely situated undulating terrain and have been far behind the mainstream of economic development. This socioeconomically and educationally lagging community, even today is lacking in basic infrastructure needs. Such is the case in Karnataka, especially in the districts like Gulburga, Shimoga, Bijapur, Chitradurga and Bellary, where the Lambani population is very high. Sabala, a voluntary organization set up in 1986, is working with Lambanis in Bijapur and has succeeded in developing a sustainable livelihoods model for around 350 ultra poor households by utilizing their traditional skills while developing products for modern markets

Empowerment through skill training – since 1998 Sabala provides opportunities for over 200 women to learn skills and translate these skills into productive activities that generate income. The revival of the traditional Lambani and Kasuti crafts is a main concern of Sabala Handicrafts. Through organizing and educating the community Sabala has worked to bring structural changes and improve the situation of Lambani and other underprivileged communities in 60 villages of 3 talukas of Bijapur district. Sabala worked with a value chain approach wherein it looked at each component of the supply chain and developed standardized production process to ensure timeliness and high quality. The initiative has led to revival of a traditional craft in modern society, reduction of migration and settlement of the nomadic tribe in a respectable and dignified manner. Currently, the Craft based Livelihood Initiative is a full fledged business enterprise which has sustained in the market for more than twenty years without any convention funding support. Today the Lambani tribe is recognized as an artisan group due to our efforts. The program has thus shifted the community’s social identity and preserved its cultural identity. Through producing.