User:Raja.chanakya/sandbox

The Chanakya School of Craft is an Indian based non-profit that educates low-income women in global crafts using a holistic curriculum that incorporates philosophy, basic life skills, and history. The NGO’s mission is to preserve crafts for future generations through women’s empowerment and community.

History
The Chanakya School of Craft was established by Karishma Swali & Monica Shah in 2017. After seeing a trend of declining master-artisans worldwide and lack of female representation, the two created the school as a centre of craft excellence in Mumbai. A yearlong program consists of two semesters as well as on the job training in order to teach over 700 craft techniques. By 2020, the School had educated 250 women and placed 50 women into full-time roles.

Collaborations
In 2019 The Chanakya School of Craft partnered with The Jai Vakeel Foundation to raise awareness for the Intellectually Disabled through a #choosetoinclude movement. The initiative featured 7 bands created by the Chanakya School and gained support from Indian celebrities such as Sonam Kapoor, Sachin Tendulkar, and Shilpa Shetty. In 2020 Maria Grazia Chiuri unveiled a collaboration with the Chanakya School and artist Judy Chicago for the set of her Dior Haute Couture SS20 collection. The instillation created, The Female Divine, featured 21 panels created by the students of the school. A total of 150 students worked on the project over the course of 1 month requiring 11 individual processes and between 500 to 2800 work hours per banner.

Press
The school has been profiled in several international publications including Vogue India and Elle Italia.