CAG 2023-24
GOJJRI KALAN
Teena (Arif Ali)
Uttarakhand
Led by social worker and trans rights activist, Teena, Gojri Kalan has grown into a collective space within the Van Gujjar Rehabilitation site, (Haridwar Disctrict). This collective of women works to practise the age-old craft of bead work and textile knitting of this traditionally forest dwelling Van Gujjar community, that is a dying form today.
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Teena meets the other Van Gujjar women part of her collective regularly within their homes in the Resettlement Colony of families evicted from the forests.
Through this collective shared space, they actively dialogue around health issues, education, their shifting identities as a displaced forest dwelling community and opportunities for livelihood.
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Over the Grant Period Teena initiated the work with over 60 women, of whom 20+ women are regularly working with her collective. They have experimented with sample products in both the original traditional method - making earrings, bracelets, small bags, and making new designs that work with changing contexts and styles today. Artreach team has made several visits to assist and help mentor Teena and her team over the course of this period.
They have created several traditional and new products using their age old techniques of weaving with bead jewellery and fabric
We are thankful to Seema Kohli for her support of this project.
Together they discuss various challenges faced in the community during their collective sessions - around health, education and unemployment.
About the grantee
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Teena (Arif Ali) belongs to the traditionally nomadic pastoral Van Gujjar community. She has grown up in the rehabilitation colony for the Van Gujjars in Uttarakhand, and is currently pursuing a Bachelors in Social Work at Haridwar (Uttarakhand). Teena began working with reviving the increasingly forgotten craft forms of her community during lockdown and is passionate about documenting the stories that go along with those practices. She is also the community's first trans rights activist.
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