NEWSLETTER APRIL - SEPTEMBER 2009

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Chennai!

The second quarter of 2009 has been eventful. It included travels to Paris and Germany in May, America in June and Vienna, Austria in July. We were able to open channels of communication with international organizations like UNESCO in Paris and UNIDO in Vienna. . I was able to meet many key people in the Indian Embassies in Paris and America. I was very happy with the hospitality extended to me and my team. I was accompanied by Ms.Surapee Rojanavongse, President WCC APR, Ms.Sangeet Chopra, Secretary General WCC and Ms. Sudha Ravi, Membership Development WCC

The stop in Paris was to establish a contact with UNESCO. We met with Mr.Georges Poussin, Chief of the ‘Section of Creative Industries for Development, Culture Sector’ and his team. We discussed areas of collaboration in both the Education Program and workshops. An interesting outcome of my meeting with UNESCO is the Creative Cities Program. Our expert in India was able to complete the evaluation for the city of Kanazawa, to be nominated to the creative cities network. Kanazawa has now been appointed as the “City of Crafts and Folk Art”, along with Santa Fe in America and Aswan in Egypt.

In relation to craft and design collaborations, WCC will be represented in an advisory committee, in the “Code of Practice for Craft-Design Collaboration”, being developed by Dr. Kevin Murray. UNESCO has supported this code, based on its endorsement by WCC, at the last General Assembly in China. I have been invited to be the key note speaker for the “UNESCO World Forum on Cultural Industries”, in Monza, Italy in September. My talk will be on, “Creativity, Innovation and Excellence: from Crafts to the Design and Fashion industries.” 

In Paris, we also met with Mr.Indrasen Venkatachelum, former Director of Crafts, in UNESCO and Mr.Dominique Bouchart, Crafts Development Expert. The meeting was invaluable in terms of inputs and advice. We visited the gallery of “Ateliers d'Art de France”, National Entity Member of WCC Europe. We were very thankful to Ms.Sandra Theule, for showing us around their beautiful shop and gallery.

WCC Team visits Ms.Bhaswati Mukherjee, Ambassador/ Permanent Representative of India to UNESCO in Paris.

Visit to UNESCO, headquarters in Paris. With Mr.Georges Poussin, Chief, Section of Creative Industries for Development and Ms.Denise Bax, Programme Specialist.

In Paris, France. June 1st,2009. Ateliers d’Art de France, Gallery and shop. Associate Member WCC Europe. WCC President, Mrs.Usha Krishna, WCC Secretary General, Mrs. Sangeet Chopra and Mrs.Sudha Ravi, Membership Development, WCC with Ms.Sandra Theule. 

The Second WCC Board Meeting was held in Karlshrue, Germany on June 3rd. The members of the board including myself, Ms. Sangeet Chopra and others from Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia Pacific met in a friendly atmosphere to discuss pertinent issues.  The reports and future plans of the regions were presented. 

We are very grateful to WCC Europe for organizing this one day meeting of the Board. The EUNIQUE Fair organized by WCC Europe was a total success, with an unmatched selection of applied art and design.

Our North American board members could not join us in Germany and I was happy to have an opportunity to meet them in America. I made a trip to Atlanta and met with Ms.Cindy Bowden. It was a hectic couple of days with conference calls and interviews with PBC and PBS.

 In New York, I made a contact with the Silk Road Project for the WCC School Education program. During 2009-2010 school year, a one year pilot program, will engage 500 sixth grade students and their teachers in New York City public schools, using a model of interrelated learning based on the topic Indigo. We are looking at collaborating with them and exchanging inputs with our school program in India.   Our Education Dream Team has chosen seven Chennai city schools to launch the craft program. This program will cover 1500 children in the first phase.

I returned to Chennai, in the second week of July and had to leave for Vienna right away.  WCC has identified Africa, as a thrust area this year. We chose Vienna, one of the cultural centers of Europe to launch an exhibition of African crafts in conjunction with “Africa Tage Wien”, a popular cultural and social event. The unique feature of the WCC stall was that it presented the attendees with an array of high quality African craft where the individual artisans were high lighted. The participants were happy that their products were well received. They also had an opportunity to exchange ideas and get inputs in design and craft processes from the attendees and fellow crafts people. This exhibition not only accomplished my vision for revitalizing African crafts sector by showcasing their products in Europe, it also promises to bring in new members.

Another highlight of my trip to Vienna, was the visit to Bratslava to meet Julia Kunovska, WCC-Europe Board member. It was a memorable visit. She took us around the beautiful city. We visited craft shops and her own gallery.

Finally, back in Chennai we had successful meetings with the Indian Government who will be supporting us in a big way!  Now I am getting ready to leave for Europe, first to be part of the European Assembly in Lucerne and then on to Monza, Italy for the UNESCO forum.

I will also participate in the WCC APR assembly in Iran in October and the Latin American Assembly in Cuba in December. I look forward to meeting all our friends and well wishers around the world!

Warm regards,

Usha Krishna