About Us

eki [lang. marathi, \EY-ki\]: odd / unique / oneness / unity
beki [lang. marathi, \BEY-ki\]: even / common / duality / diversity

Ekibeki means oneness of interests, sentiments, pursuits among different groups or entities. Our aim is to revive the folk arts and crafts of India, help generate sustainable livelihoods for artisans, and help the artisans grow the community craft clusters in their natural habitat.

Who are we:

Ekibeki is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to preserving, sustaining and growing the dying crafts of India. Our aim is to revive the folk arts and crafts of India, help generate sustainable livelihoods for artisans, and help the artisans grow the community craft clusters in their natural habitat.

What problem are we solving: 

Most people are unaware of the crafts we have in our country. Along with the awareness there is no love or respect for the local crafts. Artisans engaged in traditional crafts are struggling to survive. Many move to other occupations/migrate to cities where they lack dignity and are detached from their families and their society. On the other hand, consumers are denied the opportunity to enjoy the beauty of these traditional crafts.

Root causes are poor awareness of the crafts and their cultural value, limited investment in skills, infrastructure and product design, poor workmanship/ product quality, and lack of access to markets. As such the demand for these products is weak and declining, reducing the livelihood opportunities for the artisans.

The artisan community is facing the problem of:

• Regular income
• New designs
• Buyers beyond exhibitions
• Awareness about these crafts in Urban areas
• Digital literacy
• Adapting to new techniques and skills

To solve these problems Ekibeki was born in 2018.

What we do:

Our mission is to help livelihood generation with focus on women and youth artisans by developing producer owned groups making largely handmade products and an ecosystem around them which makes them self-sustaining. We provide the following services to this end: 

•       Create awareness - amongst adults, students, corporates, government about these beautiful crafts
•       Develop contemporary product ranges and new applications
•       Provide technical inputs for ensuring high/consistent product quality
•       Build artisan capacity through training - technical, design development, manufacturing, sales and distribution
•       Provide Market Linkages through exhibitions, retail (both online and offline), corporate gifting and commissioned projects.