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Our crafts - under threat

by Prasad Abu Bakr

Some of the handcrafted items that are turned out by the craftsmen on the spot.

A sudden boom in importation of hand made crafts from other countries is posing a major threat to our already ailing craft industry.

With a state sponsored agenda to import almost everything under the sun since the country dipped into the standards of a free market economy in 1977 the decision which, while steering the country ahead at the beginning has dragged the economy to an abyss of no return shrouded with debt to numerous lending agencies globally.

Besides the country plunging into a disillusioned state of debt the ruling has also driven away our people from buying or using anything produced here, a principal reason being that the imported goods sell at a lesser price than its local counterpart.

Beside many activities to promote local handicrafts by the state the industry has been seen taking a nose dive in recent times owing to the large variety of handmade crafts that are imported into the country.

Colombo alone has opened a large number of craft shops since the early nineties and initially selling products made by our own craftsmen later opted to sell imported varieties of crafts instead. It is interesting to know what kind of import duty rates are paid when such goods enter the country because they are mostly sold at lesser prices in comparison to our local crafts.

Entrance to the craft village at Sigiriya.

Local crafts, done mostly as a cottage industry at the time it enjoyed a reasonable amount of scope where production and exports were concerned before the open economy came into operation. With the dawning of the new era, crafts as all other industries enjoyed an immediate upward surge and many investors began to play the role of the middleman which involved buying and selling locally produced handicrafts to the west.

With its newly found buyer and promoter the local crafts found itself appearing at international trade fairs all over the world and with the private sector involvement in promoting it improved quality of the finished product and packaging of it was introduced as a major marketing exercise.

All these good attributes also brought along with it unhealthy competition among the small time craftsmen that were mostly from the village and was invariably gullible, a fact which led to the big time financiers, who were the ones that mostly patronised this business, began their usual practice of exploiting by setting up one craftsman against the other.

In the process of trying to market local handicrafts in the west most entrepreneurs were introduced to non-traditional products by their buyers who expected them to re-produce the sample in Sri Lanka which was eventually exported back to the country of its origin. This trend resulted in mass scale toy and ornament factories being set up and the rejects that were found not suitable for export being sold in the local market.

However it was never a habit in Sri Lanka for locals to patronise products that were turned out locally. Even long before the free trade policy came into operation it was an inborn trait amongst our people to praise anything foreign over everything produced locally.

The clamour for 'foreign things' was always heard being voiced not only by the folks of the city but even by the rural folk who thought that they were deprived of the right to buy foreign goods and indulge them while a few privileged individuals afforded these opportunities so when the doors opened in the seventies it was pure hysteria and people began buying things that they hardly used or needed for that matter.

So this may be amongst the reasons why even governments that prevail has little objection to what is brought into the country in the guise of imports overlooking the fact that some of them can jeopardize local producers. But authorities will still not want to do anything about it as they are made to see all opposition as healthy competition.

In the context of our handicraft industry it is getting throttled by the present set up, more than half of Colombo's craft shops are selling imported crafts including handmade paper. Reed and rush is imported into the country, sculptures, masks and other miscellaneous products are brought in and sold at a lesser price.

It is only fare that a higher rate of tax is levied, upon importing these goods into the country. A ban should be imposed upon vendors selling imported artifacts to tourists within the cultural triangle and other places of tourist interest. Presently it is a common sight to see men laden with a variety of hand crafted imported crafts selling them to tourist visiting Anuradapura, Polonnaruwa, Sigiriya and the outside the Dalada Maligawa in Kandy.

Many of the shops that are operating within tourist hotels in these areas are also selling many similar objects including jade and ivory. They sell these products that are mostly of a substandard quality to unsuspecting foreigners under the pretext that the items are locally produced creating confusion in the mind of the tourist who is buying it and also and overall misconception of our history and any authenticity that it bears.

There are two 'Craft Villages' that are operating presently, one in Sigiriya and the other in Battaramulla. The latter is an eye opener to many locals who can witness the many stages that these products are seen through before they finally reach the customer. It helps enhance the knowledge that the customer has with regard to local handicraft production and also develop some respect for the many skilled men and women that toil in this area.

The Craft Village in Sigiriya was a much needed asset that was lacking over the years where over fifty craftsmen are profited. There is scope for more villages of this nature to be set-up, but not necessarily in resort areas.

Supermarkets and shopping malls in the city should accommodate areas for local craftsmen to sell their products setting aside the perception that local handicrafts are meant to sell mostly among tourist.

A great responsibility lies on the shoulders of our entrepreneurs in familiarising our crafts among the local middle class that patronise their shops. This can be done by including local handicrafts on their shelves, so that people can actually look at them and decide to buy them. What actually is happening today is that crafts produced by rural craftsmen are selling at only selected points or in shops specialising on the subject. Selling them at craft fares once a year at the Viharamahadevi Park or at the Art Gallery won't help!

Today it is necessary to popularise our crafts by broad basing them at popular selling points where a larger part of society do their shopping. The operation will call for a large scale marketing exercise which is the necessity of today if we are to see our crafts survive against all the odds that it has to face owing to the importing of foreign crafts and artifacts by people who are seeking to make large scale profits.

At present there is a favour towards local crafts among the elite from all over the country and specially from Colombo. It is time that this opportunity is used to bring these products out in public on a larger scale making them available to everybody in society.

The concept of 'Laksala' should be brought into a more popular bracket, commercialising it to suit the need of our local people who look for reasonable pricing above all.

Educating rural crafts people to produce things that are of more utility value is an important factor, rather than allowing them to create decorative souvenirs which are mostly valuable to visiting foreigners. Looking at the vast number of handmade products, both traditional and non traditional, that are available here.

It is surprising how traders are tempted to import handicrafts of any nature ignoring the many methods that can be introduced to create new designs using existing techniques and improving on designs that are available at present.

Authorities should bear in mind that importing essential food items and other necessities can serve well under the open economy act as far as it serves a purpose, especially under the ongoing price-hike challenge that the country is facing.

They should also remember that handicrafts are not essential fare and the general public can do without the imported stuff. If the principals concerned turn a blind eye and choose to ignore these facts; Sri Lanka will lose an important segment that contributes in no small way to sustain its vast cultural heritage that spans to a glorious past. A past that has been reduced to a fallible present owing to the many shortsighted decisions made by them.

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