"of the 400 billion dollar global handicrafts market, the Indian share is only two per cent. This, despite the fact that Indian artists make up 40 per cent of the world's artisan population," Saumya Pankaj points out as she highlights the need for craftsmen to go beyond their artistic realms through creative intervention and collaborations.

With this aim in mind, the Delhi-based visual communication designer started The India Crafts Project (TICP) earlier this year, which works in the areas of research and documentation of the challenges artisans grapple with, creating an e-commerce platform for artisans, and facilitating collaboration between artisans and creatively inclined professionals. Pankaj will be in Mumbai this Sunday for the latter, with a meet-up that invites photographers, writers, artists, accountants, filmmakers, strategists and other professionals who can bring their entrepreneurial, managerial, technical, creative or design-related skills to the table, and help artisans with specific projects, or provide long-term solutions in their area of expertise.