Bamboo craft is practiced in many parts of the world. In India the north eastern part is reach in the bamboo plants, so it is a common among people to practice bamboo craft. Bamboo curtain stand is one of these crafts which can be seen in different parts of northeastern India. It depends on the craft community which practices these craft and so the curtain stand varies from one region to another.
One of the curtain stands is being studied here in this thesis. The bamboo curtain stands servers as a partition in the long room. The process map of the bamboo curtain stand is shown in the Fig. 3.37.
Process map of bamboo curtain stand Collection of
bamboo plants
Cutting the bamboo stems into
circular section of
required thickness
Drying the circular section
Making required holed in the bamboo parts
Making the frame of the bamboo stand
Attaching the circular section on to the frame Joining the
frames into a single
stand Fishing the
stand
Fig.3.37: Process map of bamboo curtain stand (Source: Author generated)
The process of bamboo curtain stand starts with the specification needed for the stand. The stand needed to be on the floor, so it suitable enough to serve its purpose. The next step is the making is the collection of suitable bamboo stems. The stems are then cut into circular portion which can be used in the stand. The circular parts are colored and dried in the sun. The next step involves making holes in the bamboo parts. The frame of the stand is made by joining it together either with bamboo of the hinges available in the common market. After the frame is ready the circular parts are fixed into the frame using the threads. Once the parts are fixed the other frame is also made ready. The different frames are then joined together to make a complete structure. During this making process the researchers did a contextual enquiry on the craftsman who were building the curtain structure.
During the conversation some of the tacit and implicit component of the knowledge was extracted from them as well as the object they produce. This is shown in the Table-3.5 below.
Table.3.5: Extraction of tacit knowledge from the bamboo curtain stand making process Steps Processes Photos/videos Task/protocols
carried by the craftsman
Knowledge type Explicit
knowledge
Implicit knowledge 1 Collection
of bamboo plants
‘The bamboo stems were little raw and green when we collected them’
The moisture content in the stem helps to identify the stem for raw material
The experience of craftsman helps him to choose the bamboo.
2 Cutting the bamboo into circular section of required thickness
‘We cut the bamboo stem into required thickness’
The circular sections of the bamboo is cut from the stem
The parts are of equal circular shape
3 Drying the coloured circular parts
‘The colouring of the circular section is done with water colour, so that it retains in the parts’
The circular parts are dried to a certain amount of time under the sun.
The colour and the drying temperature are decided by the craftsman
4 Making
required hole in the bamboo parts
‘The holes were carefully made into the circular parts’
The dimensions of the holes made were such that it did not crack the raw material.
The craftsman were able to make the hole precisely.
5 Making
the frame of the bamboo stand
‘frames were made as per the
specification of the design’
‘Design height and placement of the stand
determine the height of the frame’
The frames were built strongly as per the designs
6 Attaching the circular sections on to the frame
The circular sections which were coloured were attached on to the frame
‘Required distance between the circular parts was observed before it was attached into the frame’
The craftsman knows how many circular sections, as well as the distance which needs to be left and then attached it the frame.
7 Joining the frames into a single frame
‘Joining can be done with the help of bamboo
provided’
To make the product natural as well as
sustainable the frames were joined with bamboo straps.
‘Straps were of flexible in nature to join it into the frame’
8 Final design of the stand
‘The final design may consist of three to five frames’
The number of designs for the frame was chosen as per the design of the room
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After the tacit and the implicit components of the curtain stand making process was developed the next step was to generate the tacit markers from the protocol analysis. Fig.3.38 shows the generation of the tacit markers. These markers are the indicators of the patterns which are followed by the craftsman in their process in different domain. In case of the curtain stand some of the tacit markers are illustrated in the Fig.3.38.
Fig.3.38: Generation of the tacit makers in the bamboo curtain stand (Source: Author generated) The features like color, shape, height of the curtain stand was considered for the classification of the stands from two different regions. Shown below in the Fig. 3.39 is a classification of the stand based upon the geometrical details of the curtain stand.
Height Distance between circular rings
Width of the circular
frame
Fig.3.39: Curtain stand based upon the geometrical detail
The stand varies upon the distance between the circular rings. Even the circular rings are replaced by the bamboo straps.