A Multi-Year Journey into Odisha’s Living Craft Traditions

 

Odisha Craft Odyssey (OCO) is a long-term research, residency, fellowship, exhibition, and publication programme dedicated to the sustained study of Odisha’s diverse craft traditions—one craft at a time. Bringing together artisans, researchers, artists, designers, curators, and cultural practitioners, OCO seeks to understand craft not as a static heritage object, but as a living body of knowledge shaped by communities, materials, histories, and contemporary realities.

 

Each annual cycle focuses on a single craft tradition through immersive field engagement, archival research, documentation, dialogue, and creative practice. Through its interconnected Residency, Fellowship, Exhibition, and Publication programmes, OCO creates a platform for deeper inquiry, critical discourse, and meaningful collaboration, while placing artisans and craft communities at the centre of knowledge production.

 

By documenting, preserving, and reinterpreting Odisha’s rich craft heritage, OCO aims to build an enduring cultural archive and contribute to new ways of understanding the role of craft in contemporary society.