NE artisans weave vibrant craft

Bright vibrant flowers that stay afresh for months and elegant cane furniture welcomes the buyers who visit the Craft festival that is being held at the Institution of Engineers.
Craftsmen from Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya and other regions who are participating in the crafts festival exhibit the exquisite traditional crafts of North Eastern region.

The main objective of holding the expo, being organised by North Eastern Handicrafts and Handloom Development Corporation is sponsored by Ministry of Textiles, Govt of India, New Delhi, is to build a rapport between the clients, which is not only educative to both the seller and buyer, but also keeps the craft alive and vibrant.

Speaking to City Herald, Aafiz, one of the artisans from Nagaland, who displays the lovely artificial flowers, says that these flowers are made using satin fabric, bamboo products and is quite a long process.

The fabric or the product is cut into required shape and later fixed to the bamboo sticks using coloured threads and gum.

Another artisan from Assam, carves flowers out of soft wood which is later painted using bright colours.

Seeds

The seeds of plants grown in wild are also collected and painted silver, gold, which when arranged in huge jars at the corner of the house is really attractive.

The wooden frames with climbers holding grapes and other fruits, tea plant with fruits painted with natural colours showcases the hardwork of the artisans putting it together.

Garments

Brightly dyed embroidered tops and traditional dresses of Assam, the ever beautiful Bandini printed salwar kameez sets from Rajasthan attract the onlookers.

The elegant cane furniture which is available with a discount is sure to add richness to the interiors, especially to those who have an aversion over the leather couches and furniture.

The exhibition-cum-sale of the products helps in revitalising and reorienting the designs to suit the present day contemporary requirements, without losing the traditional base.

High price

The artisans complained of inadequate availability and high price of cane due to destruction of forest tracks.

The high cost of transportation, problem of packing, weak production base are also the problems faced by these artisans.

So, make a visit to the expo and look out for cane and bamboo crafts, hand woven printed woven textiles with rich and symbolic ornamentation of Assam, sarees and bed covers, embroidered garments, handcrafted wood items, terracota, artifical jewellery made out of brass and bell metal, eye catching tribal ornaments made from cane, bamboo, glass beads, hand bags, jute bags, articles made of coir and a lot more.