Reclaiming an offensive word and adding dignity to lives of leather workers

Sudheer Rajbhar, an artist-activist, wanted to question the use of “chamar” as a slur. So he decided to print “chamar” in various scripts on to 40 cotton bags and leave them in public places to gauge people’s reaction. As expected, while not many reacted in Mumbai, people in Delhi and Allahabad found it offensive.

“I knew I would face questions because that is how we have been accustomed to use the word – as a slur,” says Rajbhar. Words like “chamar” and “bhar” that are used to denote Other Backward Classes are seen as an insult to the community, and their use is a punishable offence under Indian law.

It wasn’t so always. At one point it was merely a reference to a person’s occupation, but now it has come to acquire a derisive meaning. “It is apparent in rural areas more than urban because violence against people from these communities still persists,” says Rajbhar, an OBC himself. “And people not being aware of it is problematic,” he adds.

Thus, was born Chamar Studio in 2017 on Ravidas Jayanti. He hopes the name of his debut venture will help generate awareness about the community and take the stigma out of the word.   

Minimalistic hand bags from Chamar Studio

Over 2 million people are employed in India’s leather industry, and ‘chamars’ or leather makers derive their caste name from their chosen profession. The beef ban in 2017 implemented by some states disrupted the industry as it made obtaining leather difficult, and rendered many workers jobless. 

Reutilising the skills and the experience these craftsmen gained during their life, the Chamar Studio employs leather workers from the Chamar community to produce handmade bags and other accessories in different materials, from cotton to natural rubber and the like.

“Having grown up in Kandivali, I am very close to these artisans,” says Rajbhar. The idea took route in Mumbai’s Jehangri Art Gallery in 2017 where he showed his work “Dark Homes”, named so after the dimly-lit homes in Mumbai’s sprawling slums.  “When we see Bombay from the top, it appears to be covered in black and blue plastic sheets,” Rajbhar adds.

With the help of cobblers, Rajbhar started experimenting with rubber, and fashioned it to look like plastic bags. “Slums around the city were being razed around this time. I collected a few items from the demolished remains and placed these objects in the bags I made. The idea was to show each bag as an individual house [full of precious things],” he adds.

Rajbhar remembers the first reaction to this whole project vividly. “People were amused especially by the name of the studio,” he says. Thereafter, people started observing the simplicity of the design element. “Since the brand made use of materials otherwise discarded in daily life, it did garner positive reactions. It also helped the artisans coming from the community to showcase their creativity and played a small role in saving the environment”, he adds.

Minimalistic bags from Chamar Studio

Chamar Studio’s debut collection, Bombay Black, comprises handbags, belts, wallets, crafted using recycled rubber tyre sheets. “I consider rubber as less harmful than plastic”, says Rajbhar, who is hoping to make his brand affordable and available to everyone. “I want people to flaunt this brand without any inhibitions,” he adds.

His studio is currently looking for collaborations with established artists and designers. For his next collection, Rajbhar wants to collaborate with cobblers and shoe-shiners who sit at the railway platforms from Virar to Churchgate so that they can supplement their daily income with some extra work.  For this project, the bag will come in shades of blue, the colour of the uniform cobblers wear.  

Today, Rajbhar works with seven to eight artisans out of his workshop in Kandivali, with whom he shares 50 per cent of the proceeds from the profits earned. In future, he is hopeful of “introducing bio-composite material made from entirely organic and sustainable bacterial cellulose grown from agricultural waste.”