One-stop shop for fun, food and fancy crafts

For those looking for different varieties of ethnic attire to add some colour to their wardrobe or a piece of art to adorn their homes, the Basant 2015 fair organised by Dastkar, in association with Delhi Tourism at Nature Bazaar is the ideal destination.

With a number of ethnic wear options, home decors and entertainment, the sixth edition of the fair set off to a grand start recently. For the first time Ruaab-Sewa brings the craft products from Ethiopia including jackets, hand-spun cotton handlooms, hand-crafted leather bags and purses, decorative clay items and painted pottery tea-sets. There is also jewellery items made from indigenous Ethiopian wood and a selection of local silver jewelleries.

Speaking to Metrolife, Wolle Abegze, Ethiopian stall owner informed, “There are 56 ethnic groups living in Southern Ethiopia, in which 29 groups have their own identity, colours and designs. Each group’s colour and design is different from that of the other, making it unique and special. The jackets are designed by Abeba Zenebe, whose work represents different ethnic groups”.

The sixth edition of the fair features mesmerising regional handloom weaves like Maheshwari, Kota, Ikats and fine bandhini along with block printed textiles in Ajrakh, Bagru and Dabu styles. Splendid garments, fabrics and furnishings embellished with regional embroideries are available in Ari, Sindhi, Lambani, Sozni and Applique work.

Traditional leather footwear along with tribal, bead and thread-based jewellery, pottery, wood carving, cotton durries are featured along with environment-friendly handmade Moonj baskets, candles, sikki and papier mache decoratives.

Yashoda Soni, a young tribal craftswoman from Jharkhand, once timid and shy girl now speaks confidently of how she used the earnings from the first Basant Bazaar, to train eight women in making market-friendly jewellery using tribal traditional designs and almost 12 women, who were only brewing alcohol, to make and package homemade pickles.

Soni said, “These women have nothing but the skills and will to learn. By coming to the Dastkar Bazaar, I learn more about the market which I can then pass on to the women who are slowly learning to support themselves.

The Basant Bazaar made me capable enough to buy clothes for my daughter, instead of relying on loan-sharks, which is a gift I can never forget.”

Revitalising the art of Rogan painting, 21-year-old Mohammed Jabbar Khatri carries with him, a 300 year old legacy of Rogan fabric art, a skill that has been honed by his family for the past seven generations.

Working with castor oil and natural pigments, the Rogan technique involves extreme precision in execution and finesse of the painting gives the impression of being printed rather than hand painted.

One of the masterpieces of the artist was gifted to the US President, Barack Obama by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A luxurious range of stoles, shawls, mufflers, carpets and tweeds of wool-nettle textiles have been showcased to support the resilient mountain communities of Uttarakhand and to show the versality of natural raw materials.

The food court features a delicious range of regional cuisines varying from authentic Bengali dishes, homemade specials, Banjara food by the nomads of Rajasthan, mouth-watering desserts and much more.

The Dastkar Basant fair is on till February 23,  from 11 am to 7 pm.