Mumbai: Dharavi goes beyond leather

About 30 pieces of tarpaulin products are on display at the Maulana Azad School ground in Dharavi. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

After working with potters, carpenters, embroiders and broom-makers, the Dharavi Museum collective is ready with their fourth exhibition, the Waterproof Project, on display till October 29. This time, they have collaborated with the leather workers of Dharavi but got them to work with Mumbai's favourite material, tarpaulin. Local tailors and bag makers have experimented with sheets of coloured tarpaulin to create duffels, handbags, wallets, lunch boxes, laptop bags and tablet sleeves. There are about 30 pieces currently on display on a cart that stands at Maulana Azad School grounds. The setup is minimal and accessible to all. Children playing on the grounds throng to the cart out of curiosity and the organisers don't seem to mind. Kruti Saraiya, creative coordinator for Dharavi Design Museum, who has been on the project since February, says, "This is the first exhibition of its kind meant for the people of Dharavi. It's to make them see what they are capable of creating."

The core idea behind the project is to make the craftsmen look beyond leather. "Once they got into the groove, they even created a few belts and cap." The project was started by Dutch co-founders Jorge Mañes Rubio and Amanda Pinatih, and Kruti took over after once they left. "I joined as an advisor who could mediate between the workers and the founders. It was important that they get out of the commercial mindset and see themselves as artists. It was easier said than done, because in spite of being the fine craftsmen they are, they don't see themselves as creative people. For them it's about ‘dhanda', a means to an end," Kruti says.

When she handed over sheets of tarpaulin (commonly used to shield their roofs from rain) to the workers asking them to "create whatever they wanted", they drew a blank. "They are so used to taking instructions and orders, they struggled to apply their minds. So, we engaged them in a design conversation. But once into it, they began to innovate, and it all came together," she says, adding, "But what's amazing about Dharavi, is their culture of abundance and enterprise. No matter the quantum of the task, they will never say no."

Should the pieces find buyers, Kruti will guide them directly to the makers.

Most of the pieces have been made by 28-year-old Siraj Kamal and his team. A leather worker by profession, Kamal said, "Initially, the idea of making bags out of talpatri (tarpaulin) seemed strange. But once we got around to doing it, we realised it's working. Compared to leather, the material is easy to work with, because it's finer. I think these products will find takers, because of they are waterproof."