Rishilpi Handicrafts
was born as a non profit, nongovernmnental development organization and is based in the Southwest of Bangladesh. It was founded to improve the lives of people of the “untouchable” Rishi caste.
“Rishilpi” is formed from two Bengali words, “Rishi,” denoting the caste, and “shilpi,” meaning artist or craftsman.
Rishi, traditionally leather workers, for centuries have lived at the margins of Bengali society. Generally landless, with no easy access to schools, many struggled in a continual search for work to survive. By giving these artisans education and employment, Rishilpi helps them breach barriers confronting them in society. In addition to income generation,
Rishilpi conducts relief and development work in rural Bangladesh communities.
Benefits to artisans include education sponsorship, health care, micro-credit savings programs and early marriage prevention support for their adolescent daughters.
1977
Rishilpi was founded by two Italian missionaries to improve the lives of the Rishi caste. More than 1,580 artisans make and market crafts through Rishilpi. Embroidery, wheat straw, palm leaf and jute sections provide work for poor women from rural villages who have been widowed or abandoned. Some women twist jute into cord at home and others knot macramé crafts at the center. Men at the Rishilpi leather center, many of them disabled, fashion wood and leather products.
2016
Rishilpi Handicrafts became a regiestered Ltd in Bangladesh with the aim of giving work to marginalized, outcast and disable people