Ahmedabad's Heritage Entrepreneurs #1

Ahmedabad the city is known for its entrepreneurial spirit. It is a land of business and innovation. In such a space where entrepreneurial spirit thrives, why would heritage entrepreneurs be far behind?

In the recently held exhibition of the Ahmedabad Heritage Venture Lab (AHVL), on the 16^th and 17^th of April we met some of the cities heritage entrepreneurs. The exhibition had a good footfall with 1500-2000 visitors over the 2 days. Here is a brief profile of each of the 10 entrepreneurs who showcased their enterprises are

1. Shoot In Gujarat

Kirti Thakkar is the brain behind Shoot in Gujarat. Gujarat and Ahmedabad have started attracting the attention of filmmakers from across the country in the recent past. The state has supportive policies but there are still some gaps. Mr. Thakkar set up the venture to smoothen over the process of shooting of films, TV serials and ads in Gujarat.

Mr. Thakkar found his niche as a location advisor, his experience in the tourism sector also helped.  The exhibition was an interesting experience for him as he interacted with the local community who are connected with heritage, have feelings for it, he felt that since it was a niche exhibition there were genuine footfalls.

He expects more than 70 film shoots in Gujarat in the near future. This would mean a lot of work for him and a larger canvas to showcase Gujarat’s’ rich heritage to the world; this is a win-win situation for all.

2. Meet me in Khadia:

Meet me at Khadia was started by Ashish Mehta, an artist living in Khadia. Mr. Mehta has been in the visual field for more than 40 years; he started with painting and has started photography 25 years ago. He got interested in digital photography and Photoshop in 2000. He decided to develop a concept of where he lives. He is working on the visuals, of showing the culture and lifestyle to the world.

it aims to inform people about the walled city of Ahmedabad, it is especially aimed at the younger generation and aims to do that through the medium of photo walks and photography exhibitions in the old city.

The exhibition helped him meet many people who were appreciative of his work and found it innovative. He shows how scenes from daily life in the Pol are interesting and can attract people, he wants to showcase his work to the world.

3. Hunar:

Hunar is the creation of Mr. Shahid Ansari, a craftsperson with expertise in Zardozi. This organization promotes the craft of zardozi and the rich built heritage of the city by creating the famous monuments in it.

Mr. Ansari is a pioneer in showcasing built heritage using zardozi, he studied, experiment and developed his skills for a year before finally developing the product.

He has 2 main objectives, one is the promotion of the craft and stopping it form dying and showcasing it in a new form. In 2016 he is developing a collection on world monuments. He is doing workshops with NID and NIFT to spread his craft.

The exhibition was an excellent experience for him as he could tell people about his work, he got the opportunity to network with a wide variety of people, only when people see the thing do they realise its value.

In the future he would like to develop a dynamic space where people can see displays of his work, see live demonstrations as well as purchase the craft products. He wants to create the build heritage of the entire world through his need

4. Heritage Photo Art:

It is an initiative of Narendra Otia, a professional photographer. it focuses on heritage photography and has been organizing photo exhibitions promoting the city’s heritage.

Mr. Otia got involved in heritage photography when he photographed Kala Ramji Mandir for Mr. Debashish Nayak. He went to work for the Archaeology department for 20 years. Mr. Nilesh Dave helped him develop the concept for City Heritage Collection. He also designs various products using his photographs.

The exhibition was good for him as people saw and appreciated his work. He feels that a consumer base for heritage product needs to be developed and there should be a place to promote the products. He also feels that one should showcase one’s own culture and city and connect to it.

5. Sustain-Ably:

The focus of sustainably is of Sustain-Able solutions to urban issues at various levels. It is an initiative focused on sustainable development within our settlements using innovative techniques. It has been initiated by a multi-disciplinary team.

They are looking at systems for urban management. They are looking at non-traditional avenues like the use of policy, social equity and technology.

The exhibition was a good avenue for them to showcase their work, in the future they are looking at 3 projects for which they are getting into collaboration with diverse stakeholder like social communities and institutions.