At Kairi 2016, 3-day exhibition scores of pan-India traditional hand weavers and printers have brought the best of their products not only to sell but to market themselves as brands.
“We are in business with Fabindia for past 27 years, but now is the time when we start marketing ourselves as a brand,” says Mohamed Yasim who has brought with him his classic ‘Prints from Jaipur’ for Kairi.
52-year-old Yasim, who is taking forward the fourth-generation of traditional prints created from soil, also got his son Naushad, a MBA degree holder involved to expand his business with fresh ideas and techniques.
“I asked my son to join our traditional business so that he could help in creating a brand name of our own. We will name it Dabu Prints,” says Yasim adding that they have tied up with National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) to create a flavour of Dabu or mud-resist handblock printing predominant in Rajasthan, among future generation designers.
Among other artists is Amrita Chaudhary, a tough woman who started exploring Bandhis and Shibori craft after she decided to stand-up against the domestic abuse she faced.
“I am from a small village in Rajasthan where despite education domestic abuse is very common. I am a graduate and I decided to step out of it to create a life for myself. This is where I started with this craft,” says Amrita who began her business with five women in 2011.
From a turnover of Rs 22,000 in 2013 to over Rs 3 lakh in just one day this year, Amrita’s business employs over 400 women now.
“When I started I didn’t know the difference between peach and pink, I have learnt it over the years,” she adds.
Talking about the exposure that artists get at exhibitions, Amrita says a lot more can be done.
“We make huge profits here, but what if we start using technology for creating our own website and catalogues, we will be able to sell our product at much cheaper rate than we do while in collaboration with bigger brands,” she says.
The exhibition has brought together wide range of tie and dye, khadi, ajrakh, bagru and dabu prints, laheriya, ikats and weaves in sarees, dupattas and fabrics.
With a foot-fall of around 300 people on the first day, Kamayani Jalan, Treasurer of organiser Delhi Crafts Council, says that she is happy that artists from remotest areas are getting an opportunity to have an one-to-one interaction with their buyers.
“These artists are invisible, they don’t have any name. Our effort is to provide one-to-one interaction so that art-lovers get to know them,” says Jalan.
Jalan says, with more regional travelling by tourists, this shift would benefit traditional weavers and printers in the coming days.
Around 20 stalls have been set up at the Agha Khan Hall here for the exhibition.
Source: The Economic Times