Spoltlight on unusual skills

Handcrafted products

The expo, which will be open till November 28, has brought together artisans from across the nation and offers an array of exclusive hand-made products like garments, accessories, home and gardenware, toys, gifts and foodstuff which are created keeping in the mind the needs of today’s consumer.  

Over 35 artisans and groups working with different mediums like paper, glass, banana fibre, vegetable dyes, bamboo, ahimsa silk, lacquer, macramé and terracotta, from states including Kashmir, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, are taking part in the exhibition.

“This is an exhibition with a difference. The focus of ‘A Hundred Hands’ is primarily the small and medium scale artistes who have a deep knowledge of their craft but who do not have the bandwidth to access large markets.

With no middlemen involved, the artistes and designers can sell their products through this platform and people can directly interact with the creators, which is good for both consumers and makers,” says Mala Dhawan, founder trustee of A Hundred Hands.

Some of the unique items available at the expo include Shashi Bagchi’s terracotta products like cooking utensils, gardenware, hanging lamps. Gift items with stained glass art by the craftsman Asad Hajeebhoy are also awesome. Traditional game toys like gilli-dandu, lagori, pagademane are one of the unique attractions of the expo.

A ‘must-see’ is the Mughal miniature paintings displayed by Mohan Kumar Prajapati. The paintings, created using stone and vegetable colours on Vasli papars, are life-like and fresh. Tie-and-die fabrics by the national award winning Khatri family are also attractive.

Also on display are some beautiful bandhini saris, dress materials, dupatta and stoles. Ram Soni’s Sanjhi paper-cutting works are amazing. Ask Ram Soni to demonstrate his skill on paper-cutting and one will be left speechless. These apart, one can buy a whole lot of stuff for Christmas like decorative items, cakes, chocolates and lamps here.

There are also tribal metal jewellery, natural products like insect repellents, soaps and hair dyes, organic food, forest honey, home-made pickles, jams and jellies, wall paintings and murals. And on all the days, there will be demonstrations on paper cutting, stain glass art and encaustic art.