The Split Chair

This project investigates new possibilities for the Indian textile craft ply split. 

Ply Split in as ancient craft practised in the Indian desert to make belts and baskets to fasten merchandise to camels. It is an increasingly time-consuming craft, which is sadly being replaced by substitutes that are faster and cheaper to produce, leaving the ply split artisans with very little work. By merging traditional ply split with Danish design aesthetics I have developed the Split Chair, by Maria Palmerston, to enhance the techniques unique tactile possibilities of pattern and shape. 

With the Split Chair I have developed a strategic proposal for a design object that offers a unique product for consumers and a financial sustenance for a new generation of ply split artisans in rural India to preserve the craft.