"Business of Handmade" explores the relationship between the informal economy and the cultural economy by studying 12 creative and social enterprises working in India's artisan sector. Join our “Study Group” as we take three deep dives into the research, and discuss its findings through topical areas: co-creation and intellectual property, new rules of entrepreneurship, and “the new formal.” Each event will be co-hosted by Priya Krishnamoorthy (Founder, 200 Million Artisans) and Cynthia Lawson Jaramillo (Director, Parsons DEED Research Lab) via Zoom, after which the dialogue will continue on the @DEEDLab’s Instagram account.

The final session (connect via the same Zoom link) will take place on

Friday, November 19, 2021: The New Formal

7:30 p.m. New Delhi | 2:00 p.m. London | 9:00 a.m. NYC

This third and final session of the "Study Group" focuses on a hybrid approach that combines best practices of the ‘informal’ and the ‘formal’ to better serve India’s artisan economy. Recommended readings include the Case Stories: Industree Foundation (decentralised scale), Commitment to Kashmir (incubator for informal artisan-enterprises),  rangSutra (worker-owned model with 80% informal, rural, women-shareholders), and P-TAL (for-profit, social enterprise embedding social protections)

Questions we will explore include:
- Are there advantages to keeping the informal sector “informal”?
- How does such a large economy thrive through informality?
- What are the new roles that perhaps emerge in this “new formal” (e.g. gender or otherwise)?

Expert guests include:

- Raphaële Chappe, Assistant Professor of Economics, Drew University

- Kirti Goel, Co-founder, P-TAL - Punjab Thathera Art Legacy

- Shruti Jagota, Project Head, Commitment to Kashmir
- Ami Patel, Textile Lead, Industree Crafts Foundation

Hosts: Priya Krishnamoorthy (Founder, 200M Artisans) and Cynthia Lawson Jaramillo (Director, DEED Lab)

PRIOR SESSIONS

Friday, November 5, 2021: Co-Creation and Intellectual Property

7:30 p.m. New Delhi | 2:00 p.m. London | 10:00 a.m. NYC

This first session of the “Study Group” focused on co-creation and intellectual property. This session's recommended reading includes: Open Letter to Sabyasachi; Why India’s Craft Ecosystem Is A Matter of National Interest; Rainbow Textiles - Artisan-Owned Enterprise; Viko Ethnic - Artisan-Owned Enterprise; and Varnam Craft Collective - Design Studio whose designs were recently plagiarised.

Questions we will explore include:

- What are the IP implications of co-creative models?
- How do organizations handle IP if the design is external to the artisans?
- What models exist to protect the IP of traditional techniques and designs?

- Are conventional IP tools the right solution for fair and equitable co-creation models with artisans?

Expert guests include:

- Monica Bota-Moisin, Founder, Cultural Intellectual Property Rights Initiative

- Meera Goradia, Co-Founder, Creative Dignity

- Karthik Vaidaynathan, Founder, Varnam Craft Collective

- Dayalal Kudecha & Dilip Kudecha - Artisan-Designers and Entrepreneurs, Kutch

Friday, November 12, 2021: New Models of Entrepreneurship

7:30 p.m. New Delhi | 2:00 p.m. London | 9:00 a.m. NYC

This second session of the study group focuses on the new rules of entrepreneurship as emergent from the Business of Handmade research. The recommended readings include the case stories: Kadam Haat (trust-based model); iTokri (e-retail platform that has a buy-out model); Jaipur Rugs (doorstep entrepreneurship); Fab Creation (Artisan-Owned Enterprise).

The questions that will guide our conversation include:

- What are the business models that emerge throughout the research?
- What are some of the innovations that appear in these new rules of entrepreneurship?
- Artisan as creator or artisan as entrepreneur: can they succeed if they are both? Who gets to call themselves “entrepreneurs”?
- Do these models benefit the artisans more?

Expert guests include:

- Jen van Der Meer, Assistant Professor of Strategic Design & Management, Parsons School of Design

- Payal Nath, Co-Founder, Kadam/Kadam Haat

- Yash Ranga, Advisor, Jaipur Rugs

Hosts: Aparna Subramanyam (Partner & Head of Communications, 200M Artisans) and Cynthia Lawson Jaramillo (Director, DEED Lab)