Size, Geography and Potential
The creative industries have become of enormous economic and social significance in recent years. A nurtured and thriving creative economy can infuse human centered development, fuel job creation and innovation. At the same time, it can promote social inclusion, cultural diversity and environmental sustainability
In India, which has both advanced (like software design) and traditional sectors of the creative industries (crafts), neither through research nor policy much headway has been made to promote it as an integrated sector. Millions of traditional creative workers in India are unemployed or form major shares of the neo-poor. This grant facilitates research trips in 2016 and 2017 for Abdul Shaban and Filip Vermeylen and the funding of a team to assist in onsite data gathering in India.
Towards new policies
A coherent and informed policy can specifically provide new opportunities to these hitherto lower-end workers in the creative economy. In this context, the aim is to examine the size, potential and clusters of the creative industries in India, and compare it to other countries. Such as the UK, The Netherlands, China, etc. Policy measures will be suggested to stimulate the creative economy in India. The results of this research project will be published in a concluding volume, and on the personal website of Filip Vermeylen. Also, case studies focusing on Madhubani Painting, Lucknow Chickenkari, Leather Industry in Dharavi and Performing Arts in Mumbai will be carried out to understand the specific context.
The project is funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO).
