Indrasen Vencatachellum
Acting Director of the Division of Arts and Cultural Enterprise, UNESCO, Paris
February 27th, 2006
I fully concur with the ideas and suggestions put forward in Ashoke Chatterjee’s papers to address the issue of cheap imitations of Indian crafts in general and in particular to bring short-term solutions to the plight of Varanasi weavers.
I think that one urgent measure is to ensure the 'geographcial indication' status of the Varanasi brocades in cooperation with the National Copyright Office and WIPO. This certification based on a set of criteria can be a strong dissuasive factor to outside imitators and internal importers.
Another strategic approach would be to make a positive use of the Global Market by EXPORTING high quality crafts to China, targeted at a growing middle class with great purchasing power and eager to buy what is RARE and DIFFERENT! In this connection, the use of the UNESCO SEAL of Excellence can be helpful as a certification of authenticity and quality.
