Wooden blocks arranged on a tiled floor, each with a metal outline of a different object or animal inscribed on the surface.

Workshops

Karigar Shala emphasises learning through hands-on experience. Workshops facilitate this approach by providing varied opportunities to explore different disciplines and cultures, expanding participants' knowledge and skills. They allow attendees to participate directly in the building process while also connecting with wider craft traditions.

In each workshop, learners work with different materials, including stone, earth, thatch, wood, and bamboo. They also engage with a variety of materials, such as clay, textiles, paper, and many others. Through activities in masonry, carpentry, and related crafts, as well as explorations in other trades, learners gain an understanding of techniques and the properties of materials through direct experience.

Workshops also bring real building scenarios into the learning environment. Learners face practical challenges, try out different methods, and work towards solutions. This process helps them develop skills that can be adapted to various conditions and contexts.

Collaboration is a vital aspect of workshops. Artisans, instructors, and learners come together, sharing techniques and experiences. This exchange promotes a flow of knowledge that improves both individual skills and collective practice.

Upcoming Workshops

Past Workshops

  • Bridging the Rann in timber & bamboo

    Conducted by: Karigar Shala and CEPT
    Location: Karigar Shala, Bhuj
    Date: 16-12-2024
    Duration: 10 days
    Participants: Karigar Shala students and CEPT SWS.

    Karigar Shala hosted an innovative workshop exploring the link between craftsmanship and design through collaborative, interdisciplinary learning. Students from carpentry and design schools collaborated in a practical setting, where their skills and creativity came together to build a bridge using a timber-bamboo composite—an eco-friendly material that merges traditional knowledge with modern techniques. The workshop promoted cross-disciplinary teamwork, combining carpentry's technical expertise with creative design approaches. Participants tested materials, explored different construction methods, and examined the potential of the timber-bamboo composite in contemporary architecture. This experience not only improved their practical abilities but also fostered mutual respect and a deeper understanding of each discipline’s unique strengths and challenges.

  • Hand-building form and texture exploration workshop with Terracotta clay

    Conducted by: Savia Mahajan, Artist
    Location:  Karigar Shala, Bhuj
    Date:   14-09-2025
    Duration: 4 days
    Participants: Karigar Shala students

    The main aim was for students to explore both traditional and modern clay practices through a brief interactive discussion and presentation. They examined various shades of Terracotta, a local clay from Kachchh. Demonstrations included three key hand-building techniques—pinching, coiling, and slab rolling—with icebreaker and group activities to boost engagement. The final task involved students creating functional or creatively expressive clay forms, applying all the techniques they had learned. The goal was for students to understand clay's workability and to use simple methods to develop complex shapes that could later be used for small models, expressive or functional objects, and to explore the wide range of clay as a medium for expression.

  • Wood with metal furniture workshop

    Conducted by: Karigar Shala Faculty & Students
    Location: Navrachana University, Vadodara
    Date: 23-08-2025
    Duration: 5 days.
    Participants: 2nd Semester B.Arch Students - Navrachana University and Karigar Shala carpentryStudents

    The 'Wood it metal?' workshop encouraged students to pause and explore a playful yet insightful question: what are the implications of reimagining wooden joinery in metal? As a collaborative effort between Karigar Shala students and design students from Navrachana University, it created a space where artisans and designers could think, sketch, discuss, and build collaboratively.

    The process began with a straightforward challenge: while wooden joints such as tenons and mortises are precise, they are time-consuming. Could metal serve as an alternative, saving wood and opening up new design possibilities? Students tested different materials, made comparisons, and discussed their findings, discovering how material choices can influence the overall design.

    The groups explored how substitution influences both the process and expression, ranging from testing strength and behavior to sketching ideas for a stool design. What began as a straightforward design exercise on tracings transformed into a discussion about understanding strength, load distribution, stability, and force management, ultimately strengthening their design concept. 

  • Woodcut printmaking workshop

    Conducted by:  Sugandha Roa, Alumini of Shanti Niketan
    Location: Karigar Shala, Bhuj
    Date: 17-02-2025
    Duration: 5 days
    Participants: Karigar Shala students

     A professional woodworking workshop was organized for Karigar Shala residential students to deepen their knowledge of wood, including its types, identification, properties, and behavior. The sessions covered traditional hand tools, joinery techniques, and product design through collaboration between design students and artisans. Site visits allowed students to see carpentry skills in action, while discussions about waste wood emphasized its reuse potential and creative value. Through the workshop, students created innovative products and prototypes, many of which can be scaled for commercial markets. This experience improved their technical skills and encouraged a sustainable, design-oriented approach to woodworking.

  • Woodwork

    Conducted by: Karigar Shala and IPSA
    Location:  Karigar Shala, Bhuj
    Date: 17-03-2025
    Duration: 5 days
    Participants: Karigar Shala students and IPSA students

     A woodworking workshop was conducted for Karigar Shala residential students, along with IPSA students to deepen their understanding of wood, covering its types, identification, properties, and behavior. The sessions featured traditional hand tools, joinery techniques, and product design, involving collaboration between design students and artisans. Site visits demonstrated real-world carpentry skills, while discussions on waste wood emphasized reuse potential and creative value. During the workshop, students created innovative products and prototypes, many with potential for commercial scaling. This experience enhanced their technical abilities and encouraged a sustainable, design-oriented approach to woodworking.

  • Floor construction and tile fitting training

    Conducted by: Karigar Shala, KMVS and Sakhi Sangini
    Location: Karigar Shala, Bhuj
    Date: 19-12-2024
    Duration: 5 Days
    Participants: Women in the construction sector

    Karigar Shala collaborated with KMVS and Sakhi Sangini to host a workshop where 12 women learned essential floor-laying skills. These included surface levelling, base laying, spacer use, tile cutting, preparing sand-cement mixes, and installing tiles. By the end, the women had transformed the incomplete floor of the NSS Anganwadi in Bhuj into a tiled surface and laid tiles along four walls. This event showcased women's potential to become skilled artisans and advocates for fair wages in the construction sector. 

  • Wooden toy-making workshop

    Conducted by: Karigar Shala
    Location:  Karigar Shala, Bhuj
    Date: 16-11-2024
    Duration: 4 Days
    Participants: Students from Puvidham School

    This unique workshop investigated how craftsmanship and design intersect through collaborative, interdisciplinary learning. Students from carpentry and design programs worked together in a hands-on environment where skills and innovation merged, focusing on building a bridge with a timber-bamboo composite. This eco-friendly material combines traditional techniques with contemporary methods. The workshop encouraged cross-disciplinary teamwork, blending carpentry's technical expertise with design's creative ideas. Students tested materials, examined construction techniques, and explored the timber-bamboo composite’s potential in modern architecture. This experience enhanced practical skills while fostering mutual respect and understanding of the distinct strengths and challenges of each discipline.

  • Toy and Game Design

    Conducted by: Karigar Shala and NID
    Location:  Karigar Shala, Bhuj.
    Date: 28-11-2024
    Duration: 5 days
    Participants: Karigar Shala students

    A toy-making workshop was organised for the residential students of Karigar Shala to enhance skills in transforming waste wood into toys suitable for the commercial market. Students received guidance on selecting appropriate wood for toy-making, emphasising design details and applying logical reasoning, mathematics, and analytical skills through practical exercises. By the end of the workshop, they had created prototypes and tested them with children to gather valuable user feedback. The sessions also introduced students to the market potential of wooden toys as safe, non-toxic, and chemical-free options that promote cognitive development and serve as effective educational tools, especially in the preschool sector. Additionally, discussions highlighted the commercial prospects of toy-making as a sustainable career.

  • Colour theory and paper collage workshop

    Conducted by: Savia Mahajan, Artist
    Location:  Karigar Shala, Bhuj
    Date: 27-01-2023
    Duration: 4 Days
    Participants: Karigar Shala students

    A specialised session on colour theory, emphasising paper collage techniques. Artist Savia Mahajan delivered both a theory lecture and a practical colour wheel exercise for students, exploring primary and secondary colours, warm and cool palettes, and monochromatic schemes.

    The final project required students to work with colour combinations to create elemental 'picture compositions' through collage, using coloured kite papers, threads, and cloth with simple geometric shapes. Their learning demonstrated an understanding of composition and colour, which will help refine their visual aesthetic and colour choices for future work in media such as wood, marquetry, inlay, polishing, wall colours, and finishes. 

  • Wood Workshop

    Conducted by: Karigar Shala and IPSA
    Location: Karigar Shala, Bhuj
    Date: 17-03-2026
    Duration: 5 days
    Participants: Karigar Shala students and IPSA students

     Workshop Description: This workshop brings together second-year Interior Design students from IPSA and Karigar Shala students for a hands-on woodworking experience. The program is designed as a collaborative platform where young designers and traditional artisans work together, share ideas, and learn from each other’s approaches to making.

    Participants will be introduced to the fundamentals of woodworking, including an understanding of different types of wood, traditional hand tools, basic carpentry techniques, and essential wooden joinery. Through guided demonstrations and practical exercises, students will explore the craft process from concept to making.

    Working in mixed groups, participants will collaboratively design and fabricate a small wooden product, allowing them to experience the process of translating design ideas into tangible objects.

Want to conduct a workshop?

Karigar Shala encourages professionals from diverse educational and professional backgrounds to conduct workshops. These sessions play a vital role in advancing the development of emerging artisans by equipping them with knowledge and skills that extend beyond traditional craftsmanship.