Odisha Craft Odyssey Trust
Odisha Craft Odyssey (OCO) is a cultural documentation and research initiative dedicated to the sustained, multidisciplinary study of Odisha’s living craft traditions. Working with artisan communities across the state, OCO seeks to understand the histories, knowledge systems, materials, techniques, and social contexts that shape craft practices and their continued evolution.
Conceived by curator Premjish Achari and curated by Sibdas Sengupta, OCO brings together researchers, writers, artists, designers, and other cultural practitioners to engage directly with craft communities. Its approach is grounded in fieldwork, sustained observation, conversations with artisans, and the documentation of knowledge that is often transmitted through practice rather than written records.
OCO approaches craft as more than an inherited form or a finished object. It considers craft a living body of knowledge, shaped by communities, environments, livelihoods, cultural exchanges, and changing economic conditions. Understanding these relationships requires moving beyond the finished artefact to examine the people, processes, and circumstances that make its creation possible.
Each annual research cycle focuses on a particular craft tradition. Through residencies, fellowships, symposiums, public exhibitions, and publications, OCO develops a detailed understanding of the selected craft while creating opportunities for its knowledge to reach wider audiences.
A sustained inquiry into the living craft traditions of Odisha
From Field Research to Public Knowledge
OCO’s work extends from the workshop and the village to the archive, exhibition space, and printed page. Researchers document techniques, materials, oral histories, terminology, and the experiences of artisan communities. This research is developed into publications and public presentations that make the findings accessible to scholars, cultural practitioners, institutions, and interested readers.
The initiative seeks to establish a growing body of research on Odisha’s craft traditions, contributing to their documentation, recognition, and continued relevance.
An Institutional Commitment
Odisha Craft Odyssey has now been constituted as the Odisha Craft Odyssey Trust, a public charitable trust established to provide an institutional framework for its research, documentation, publication, and artisan-engagement activities.
Through the Trust, OCO aims to develop long-term collaborations with artisans, researchers, cultural institutions, government bodies, and other organisations working towards the documentation and continued vitality of craft traditions.
OCO’s central commitment remains unchanged: to place the knowledge and experience of artisans at the centre of understanding craft, while creating meaningful connections between traditional knowledge and contemporary cultural inquiry.
Institutional Partnerships
The Trust works with institutional partners whose support enables OCO’s programmes to develop over time.
MGM Foundation — Programme Partner
MGM Foundation supports OCO’s programme development and its wider cultural and research initiatives.
Bhubaneswar Experimental Art and Design Studio (BEADS) — Supporting Organisation
BEADS supports OCO’s work through its engagement with art, design, and cultural practice.