This article has been written by Manisha Kumari, a student of 2nd year , CLC ,University of Delhi 

Abstract   

Art and crafts are represent any society cultural heritage which shows the creativity of workers who are related to the art and crafts. Art and crafts also related to the historical past and present.  It shows that how a nation or region or societies were affluent and prosperous by all means. In modern society, Art and crafts are steadily and slowly losing their importance in socio-economic both ways, it is the reason, why we need the revival of lost art and crafts. The  role  of  geographical indication is a big milestone in preserving the art and craft forms. In this article, we are insight about what is the role of GI, in revival and preserving the art and crafts. 

INTRODUCTION

 Art and crafts   word often used interchangeably but these words having different meanings. Art is a creative process whose  products are to be appreciated primarily or solely for their imaginative aesthetic content. Any beautiful thing is not art .Beauty with meaning and individuality becomes art. In other word, an artwork is a beautiful (aesthetic), individualistic (should not be a reproduction) and meaningful (symbolism) creation.

                             Craft is any activity involving skill in making things by hand by carrying out an instruction or following a convention to create an object. It may or may not be utilitarian but always has a cultural aesthetic and is related to a community’s heritage. Crafts are usually made of  like wood, clay, glass, textiles, metal or paper.

Geographical Indication 

According to Art.22 of the TRIPS  defines a GI as  Geographical indications (GIs) are intellectual property (IP) rights that serve to identify a product that originate from specific geographical area and that has a quality, reputation, or other characteristics that are essentially attributable to its geographical origin. For instance  Banaras Gulabi  meenakari craft is the art of decorating a metal surface by fusing mineral substances on it. Meenakari was introduced in India by the mughal. The process is often applied to kundan articles of jewelry studded with gem stones set with a layer of gold foil between stone and the mount on one side while the reverse is lavishly enameled using the meena techinque, Madhubani painting, Mirzapur Handmade Dari, etc.

 GI   is sui generis category of   intellectual property rights, which focuses on the original product of the area or region.GI  shows  how it is important to preserving and promoting Indian art and crafts.  GI   is applicable to nature and manufactured products, food, art and crafts.  Art and crafts have certain quality, standard or reputation that is related to their place of origin, preparation, or manufacturing. 

In India, Geographical Indications registration is administered by the Geographical Indications of Goods Act, 1999, which enforced on 15th September 2003. In International level GI tags are driven by the World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. GIs are part of IPRs under Paris convention.

 Under Sec. 2 (f) of GI Act, 1999, ‘Goods’ have been defined handicrafts and Sec. 2(k) (iii) defines ‘producer’ in relation to handicrafts as: ‘…any person, who makes and manufactures such goods, and includes any person who trades or deals in such production, exploitation, making, or manufacturing of the goods.’Section 3 analyses certain significant features of the GI Act while Section 4 enumerates the GI registration process in India in brief. Section 5 depicts the state of play of GI registration in the country, followed by a discussion in Section 6 on how the registration process has been facilitated by public and quasi‐public interventions of diverse nature and kind. Section 7 brings to the fore some of the key challenges confronting the stakeholders in India, such as foreign registration, enforcement (in home as well as abroad), brand‐building and promotion. Section 8 examines the overall prospects of GIs in protecting traditional knowledge and facilitating rural development in India. Section 9 then delves deeper into the possible socio‐economic implications of GIs in India by taking the handloom sector of the country as a case in point and drawing on the experiences of two registered GIs from this sector, namely ‘Pochampally Ikat’ and ‘Chanderi Fabric’.

Role of GI’s in Preserving   the   Art and crafts

GI came into existence when different art and crafts gradually fading their values by copying and exploiting by others.  At the same time, GI came into picture which gives protection to art and crafts by registering them as a GIs product. GI tags plays significant role in preserving Art and Crafts in the Indian context, following role:

1. Legal Protection: GIs gives legal protection to products associated with a particular region. This also restricts unauthorized   use of   GI by others and prevents them from exploiting money. This is also safeguards the authenticity of   cultural products. GIs allows artisans to legally challenge counterfeits and maintain their traditional livelihood. 

Any individual producer, by or under the GIs Act, can apply to get a GI tag. A GI tag is valid only for 10years although it can be renewed from time to time for further period of 10years each through every subsequent renewal.

1. Quality Assurance: Customer can trust the quality and authenticity of products with GI tags. GIs guarantee the products meets the specific standards   and has unique attributes linked its place of origin.
2. Uplift of the local socio-economic status: GI tags enrich the demand for 

products with unique cultural significance. This benefits local artisans and boosts the economy of the region which is turn helps in the preservation   and continuation of traditional art forms. 

                        The GIs is also play in role of giving respect and recognized value for their art and crafts because without this prior these artisans work and their products were highly imitated and use fake product of these crafts for financial gain. After the commencement of GI tag these artisan gain respect for their art and crafts and their products also gain a specific brand name for national and international level. The GI is a symbol of the helps consumers to recognize the origin of the product. Because of this people use this product as a genuine product and this specific origin of the product gain less competition in other fake products .On the other hand these specific reason artisans sustain their art and craft skill in the coming era. The role of GI in the area of art and crafts is the preservation and the maintenance of the knowledge and skill of the making art and crafts, and rights of the community who made the GIs products. With this instance consumer and policy maker encourage the artisans to create and innovate best quality of products. Different GIs tag products represent cultural diversity of the different region of a country. GIs tag increases transparency, certainty and trust between product maker indigenous people and community.

  CONCLUSION: 

Geographical indications tags are a tools which came into picture to preserve and revival of the traditional art and crafts related to indigenous communities of the specific regions.GI tags are play important role to enhance cultural heritage of  the specific area and also increase the economic status of the group who are related to these skills. In India, after the enforcement of GIs Act, 1999, under the list of crafts registered under GIs is 116. The GIs tags  provides global recognition and value of artisans skill and their products which improve the artisan socio economic status and our country economic status also. 

REFERANCE:

1. World Intellectual Property Organization, Intellectual property  and Traditional handicraft ,WIPO
2. Natesh Subhedar, Relationship Between Art, Craft  and Design In An Indian context, IIAD, iiad.edu.in 
3. Melissa D’Mello, How Do Intellectual Property Rights And The GI Tag Safeguard Indian And culture?, rooftopapp.com, 2023
4. Allonssa Sarker, How Effective is GI in Safeguarding Traditional Art? , Fashion and Law Journal.com, 2021
5. Kashturi Das, socio-economic implication of protecting Geographical Indications in India,2009
6. Akash Krishnan ,Significance of Geographical Indication Tags in India, blog.ipleaders.in, 2021