Time to revive crafts fading into oblivion

Neha Saini
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, November 6

While most mainstream discussions and efforts about the revival of crafts in Punjab are centred round phulkari due to its worldwide recognition, there are several crafts that are gradually fading into oblivion.

One among them is the handicraft form of azarbandh or the art of intricately weaving drawstrings. The colourful naalas, as they are popularly known in Punjab, are weaved to be used as a support for traditional salwars. An art that originated in humble households of rural Punjab is being revived through extensive collaborative efforts of A Dialogue Collective, an initiative by Shyamli, who has been working with a cluster of artisans in Khuda Ali Sher, a village in Chandigarh.

Shyamli recently developed a range of junk jewellery combining the crafts of Azarbandh and thathera, which is the art of hand-beaten metal work and ceramic. The accessories were launched at a special exhibition held under the FICCI FLO’s Revival For Survival project that aims to bring together dying handicrafts of Punjab on a single platform for visibility and recognition.

“My project on azarbandh has been going on for the past eight years. I first came to know about the craft during a field visit while working on CSR projects and ever since I have been collaborating with artisans to create networks for providing a platform to this art form. My association with Revival For Survival too is aimed at creating new channels, ideas for reinventing the crafts to suit modern tastes,” said Shyamli. Shyamli had teamed up with artist Smiley Chaudhray for the Revival For Survival project and the exhibition included punja durries/ weaved carpets and rugs, thathera utensils and accessories including handbags made through the thathera technique, painted with miniature artwork and drawstrings made through the azarbandh technique.

“There is a huge market for such intangible heritage art forms, but lack of avenues and platforms for artisans is pushing a lot of artist communities to extinction. We have managed to get clientele from across the globe for the azarbandh products, but there is still a huge gap between demand and supply and marketing too requires big money,” said Shyamli. Despite the challenges, she has managed to revive the art form working with a group of women in Khuda Ali Sher.

The exhibition was visited by entrepreneur and philanthropist Pinki Reddy. “Pinki Reddy is the managing director of Lotus House, an initiative to revive and conserve disappearing indigenous art and craft forms. She assured us that she will collaborate with us to promote the thathera art and it is a step in the right direction,” said Arushi Verma, chairperson, FICCI FLO, Amritsar, and brain behind Revival For Survival.