Handmade artifacts on show

Close to 35 artisans from across the country are exhibiting their wares. Rajiv, who is in charge of the exhibition said, “This is the 12th consecutive year that this fair is being held in the City. It creates an opportunity for the artisans from across the country to exhibit their wares and reach out to a large number of people. It is also a platform to revive the traditional Kerala art forms.”

A wide range of items are on show. There are live demonstrations of the making of art pieces and the intricacies involved in it. Shashindran from Trivandrum who has been carving wood furniture and artifacts for the last three decades demonstrated the making of an elephant in rose wood. “It takes three days to carve the elephants alone and three more days to give the finishing touch,” he said.

The items on display include Ravi Varma paintings, Madhubani handmade paintings, miniature paintings on silk, banana fibre bags in different colours, shapes and sizes, Orissa paintings and many more. Yet another attraction is the handmade straw pictures which is woven using paddy straw. K Babu uses only a single blade to make the picture frames and has displayed it with great acumen.

The other items include rose wood handicraft, mango wood furniture, Kathakali masks, fibre mats, bamboo paintings and mats, bell metal lamps, uruli, puja sets, Kerala saris, metal mirrors, Kolkata embroidery bedsheet, table cloth, Hyderabad pearls, lacquer bangles from Ajmer, walnut wood products to name some of the things.

The apparel and jewellery slots have a wide range of readymade kurtis for men, women and children. Hand-printed kurtis and wraparound skirts, necklace and earrings in semi precious stones and crystals are some things one can’t miss.
This is not all, the exhibition also has traditional Kerala handicraft items like Nettipattam, Mundu, Kavani and double Mundu.

Anu, a visitor who was at the exhibition said, “Every year there is something new to look forward to at the Kerala exhibition, and this year I liked the traditional lamps in different designs. Each of the lamps is unique in its own way and I feel like buying all of them.”

The jewellery and clothing were also a big hit with women, “The designs in jewellery goes well with ethnic and contemporary clothes and the collections are quite good,” said Susheela Ram, a homemaker.

There is a special discount of 10 per cent on all items. The exhibition is on between 10 am and 8.30 pm.