“Artists will perish but the art they created will never,” said Dr Akkineni Nageshwara Rao while inaugurating ‘Sourcing Show’, a handicrafts exhibition-cum-sale, organized by AP Handicrafts Development Corporation Ltd and The Development Commissioner (Handicrafts) at the NTR stadium in the city. Nageswara Rao highlighted the fact that India was rich by virtue of its art, craft and culture. Pointing out how new a nirmal painting which he was gifted back in the year 1957 still looked, he praised, “Such is the quality of our craft works,”.Y Madhusudana Reddy, MD, AP Handicrafts Development Corporation Ltd, introduced and welcomed all the artisans who were participating in the programme. “The exhibition is not only to help them sell their works but also to help in harbouring knowledge about various fields. They will also be a string of interactions and lectures during this time,” he announced.The major problem that tribal and traditional artisans face is when selling their products. Given their lack of proper exposure to the market, they often rely on middle men who promise to help. However, the artisans are often cheated by this tier of marketing and do not gain the value of their work.Enunciating on the need to eliminate this middle belt, Mallikarjuna, Souther regional director of the Development Commissioner (Handicrafts) said, “The force behind organizing such an event was to eliminate middle men and bring maximum profits to the artisans. Hence to that effect and to encourage them to be more active, the artisans need not pay anything towards the stalls they use here.”On display will be soft wood toys and dolls from Kondapally and Etikoppaka village, hand paintings in Kalamkari, leather puppets, lamp shades, carvings in wood and crochet lace, Kalamkari block prints of Machilipatnam style, cotton durries, pearls and silver jewellery.Besides that Kutch embroidery, Agra marbles, dokra castings, rose wood items, brass gift items, leather items, bamboo and cane finished works will also be there to choose from.The list of fabrics available range from Mangalagiri, Narayanpet, Siddipet, Venkatagiri, Gadwal, Pochampally, Kalamkari, Kanta and Bengal cotton sarees to Uppada designer work sarees, Bagalpur silk sarees from Bihar, block print and vegetable dyes from Rajasthan, batic prints from Madhya Pradesh, kota sarees from Rajasthan, Sanganee print bed sheets and applique work sarees.Apart from giving the craftsmen a market, they aim of the exhibition is to help them gather valuable exposure when whole sale and retail buyers meet. The lectures that have been arranged is in an attempt to educate these people on the way the market works.Eminent guest speakers from the National Institute of Fashion Technology, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises joint director and the export and import bank officials have been invited to deliver lectures. For instance, Vasu exporters from Chennai will deliver a lecture on ‘Export procedures, policies, difficulties being faced, various financial programmes available in banking sector to handicrafts sector’. The artisans from across the country will exhibit their crafts for sale at the stadium from Dec 2 to 11.
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