At Musiriguda near Araku Valley, the day began with the soft rasp of bamboo being trimmed and split. Tribal artists watched closely as a craftsman from Chhattisgarh bent, tucked and wove slender strips into shape, turning them into trays, flower holders and pen stands. The exercise was not merely about making objects; it was about discovering new forms and understanding how a familiar material could be given a contemporary expression without losing its rootedness in tradition.
A little away in Madagada, the morning workshop carried a different rhythm. There, the earthy smell of clay and the steady movement of the potter's wheel marked the start of another session. Madagada, a traditional potters' village, has long been home to artisans who shape cookware, water-storage pots, grain containers and ceremonial lamps using kick-wheels and hand-paddling tools. In this workshop, the focus was less on introducing a new craft than on sharpening one the participants already knew. Master craftspersons and trainers from Andhra Pradesh and Odisha worked alongside the potters to think through how traditional forms could be adapted to changing tastes and markets.
These hands-on exchanges were part of a series of six-day skill development workshops that recently concluded across three key sites in and around Araku Valley. The programme was jointly organised by the Tribal Cultural Research and Training Mission, Department of Tribal Welfare, Visakhapatnam, and ITDA, Paderu, in collaboration with the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, New Delhi. It brought together practitioners of crafts that have grown from the landscape, resources and cultural memory of tribal communities, and placed them in direct conversation with trainers and master artisans from different regions.
At another venue, inside the Araku Tribal Museum, a brush moved in slow, deliberate strokes across the surface, bringing to life a painting tradition that has travelled through generations. The concentration of the artists was broken only by the occasional exchange of instructions as they learnt lacquer handicrafts and bangle-making, traditional tribal painting and Savara painting. The workshops were designed not only to teach technique but also to strengthen confidence in the cultural value of these art forms, many of which survive through practice rather than formal instruction.
One of the most significant sessions was led by Korra Buddu, a septuagenarian from the Valmiki tribe in Chompi village, who carried with her the rare knowledge of what people call 'Buddu' traditional painting. Regarded as its lone surviving practitioner, she was passing on a tradition that has gradually faded from everyday community practice. Her presence underscored one of the central anxieties behind the workshops: that some forms of tribal art may disappear unless they are actively recorded, taught and adapted for younger generations.
"Much of the knowledge associated with tribal art has traditionally been passed down orally and through practice, rather than through written records. These art forms carry within them stories of the community, its beliefs, ecology and relationship with the landscape. So, these workshops are a critical platform for documenting this knowledge and ensuring that it is passed on to the next generation," said programme director Nagaraju Chikkala.
The workshops also sought to move beyond preservation alone. Organisers and trainers encouraged artisans to experiment with new designs, diversify their products and work with materials found around them. "Lac, leaves, stones, flowers, fruits and bark can all become part of a creative vocabulary that comes from the landscape itself," said associate professor K Srinivasa Varaprasad.
That approach reflects a broader challenge facing many traditional craft communities: how to remain faithful to inherited forms while responding to changing consumer preferences and economic realities. In Araku, the answer being explored is not to replace tradition, but to expand it from within. Bamboo, clay, lacquer and paint remain central, but the workshops suggest that their future may depend on whether artisans can translate ancestral knowledge into objects and designs that travel beyond the village and into new spaces of use and appreciation.
For the artisans who gathered in Musiriguda, Madagada and the Araku Tribal Museum, the workshops offered more than technical instruction. They created a setting in which memory, skill and innovation could meet. In that meeting lies the possibility that some of these fragile traditions will not only survive, but continue to evolve with the communities that created them.