Reviving a lost world

Dastkar is holding the 12th edition of its annual ‘Bengaluru Nature Bazaar’ from August 6 to 15, 11 am to 8 pm, at Manpho Convention Grounds, No 90, Veerannapalya, Nagawara Ring Road, opposite BEL Corporate Office.

The exhibition brings together more than 100 craft groups and small producer groups from 20 states across India including 25 new craft groups who will be exhibiting their unique products for the first time.

The bazaar will offer customers a wide range of lifestyle accessories, striking jewellery and adornments, herbal beauty products, metal crafts, carved furniture and decorative products, pottery and ceramics, basketry and fibre crafts, leather products, traditional paintings, a variety of handwoven, embroidered, block-printed textiles and more.

Each year, this handcrafted lifestyle event exhibits especially curated products from over 100 craft groups and artisanal designers. Through opportunities like the ‘Nature Bazaar’, Dastkar has been able to use craft as a powerful catalyst for social and economic empowerment and often the only employment opportunity for women.

Combining age-old wisdom and contemporary design, crafts persons have been able to grow despite the lack of professional marketing infrastructure, macro investment in both financial and human resource and the social marginalisation of crafts persons.

The participating crafts persons include Chaya Nisarga, Dayaben B Dohat and Gramya T S among others. Based in Bengaluru, Chaya Nisarga is reinventing the lost craft of making decorative and utility products out of coconut shell and wood. They will be exhibiting coconut wood items like trays, table lamps, photo frames and walking sticks during the bazaar.   
 
Dayaben B Dohat, a member of a second-generation immigrant community of Dohats, is a National award winner (1990) and has worked with designer Ritu Kumar. She would be exhibiting work of soof embroideries at the bazaar.

Gramya T S is working with 200 women from Chitradurga district and reviving the art of using banana fibre to build products such as coasters, lamps, table mats, yoga mats, photo frames and window blinds.