“Made in … India” project launches in Delhi

LONDON, England – BE OPEN, the global philanthropic foundation, launched its worldwide project “Made in …” in Delhi on 10 February 2014, the beginning of a two-year journey to the ‘four corners’ of the earth to research the handmade and how to ensure its survival in the future.

BE OPEN will look at how craft can adapt itself to the new opportunities offered by our highly demanding, global marketplace, how small-scale producers can retain their integrity and local flavour and collaborate with designers and companies to secure their future practice.

The ‘Made in … India’ program included an exhibition, Samskara, a launch day discussion panel, featuring worldwide experts on craft and luxury markets and two competitions, challenging Indian students and the global users of social networks to offer their visions of the country, both through proposals for new products and through images representing India’s past, present and future.

Over 600 guests from the worlds of design and fashion, together with politicians, high-profile, international figures from the creative industries, business and academia, gathered at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in New Delhi to see the opening of the “Made in … India” showcase, Samskara, on 10 February.

The director of BE OPEN, Gennady Terebkov, welcomed guests on behalf of the founder Yelena Baturina, announcing that India is the starting point for a series of exhibitive platforms that will take place across the world to raise the profile of local makers and designers. Mrs Baturina is emphatic about craft’s significance as the ’embryo of design’ and India’s renown as a birthplace of handicraft practice.

The event was officially inaugurated by the Honourable Minister of Culture, Chandresh Kumari Katoch and Honourable Minister of Textiles, Kavuri Sambasiva Rao, showing their support for BE OPEN’s mission to sustain national heritage and keep it alive by refreshing and reinvigorating it.

Over 350 objects by 24 Indian designers are on display, selected by BE OPEN with creative advisor of ‘Made in …India’, Sunil Sethi, President of the Fashion Council of India. He commented: “It is the first time that Indian designers in the fields of fashion, textiles, decorative objects, floor coverings and furniture have all been brought together in one exhibition. The result is a fascinating overview not only of where Indian design is today, but of where it is going.”

The installation for the exhibition, created by celebrated Indian architect Anupama Kundoo, is an integral part of the Samskara experience, designed to suggest how a contemporary, conceptual brand might present its products to a sophisticated international audience.

The Talk, held as part of the launch day at the Indira Gandhi Centre, was entitled ‘The Future of Making in a Globalised World’ and moderated by Luxury Briefing expert and creative consultant from New York, Jeffrey Miller. The panellists were: Angelika Taschen (publisher, Germany), Raymond Simpson (Dominion Diamond Corporation, USA), Amy Kazmin (The Financial Times, UK/India), Armando Branchini (Altagamma, Italy) and Anupama Kundoo (architect, India).

Once again, BE OPEN demonstrated its determination to promote growth and progress through creativity, and design in particular. As Yelena Baturina says: “creativity should not be consumed by the future; creativity should design the future!”

“Made in … India” continues at The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts until 28 February 2014. The “Made in …” project will then travel to its next international destination.