Handicrafts and tribal arts' enthusiasts will soon have much to cheer about. Coimbatore will soon get the 30 exclusive ‘Tribes India' showroom that will offer a variety of tribal arts, crafts, and other products from all over India.
To be located on the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) campus, it will give access to residents on a variety of quality products and at the same time create business opportunities and ensure fair and equitable remuneration to the tribals, Jiji Thomson, Managing Director of Tribal Co-operative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited (TRIFED), Ministry of Tribal Affairs, said here on Thursday.
Announcing the setting up of the showroom at a press conference at TNAU, Mr. Thomson said the showroom would showcase various items such as metal work, textile, pottery, paintings, carvings, jewellery, cane and bamboo works, and organic and natural products, characteristic of their settlements in various States of the country.
TRIFED was primarily engaged in marketing tribal traditional products including handicrafts and natural products to improve the livelihoods of the tribal communities. As part of the marketing initiatives, it had set up 29 exclusive ‘Tribes India' showrooms across the country. In addition, it also had 20 outlets in Government showrooms.
Inking a memorandum of understanding with TNAU, the Managing Director said the showrooms in other parts of the country, mainly North India, were doing very well and hence the decision to open one in Coimbatore.
“Their work is very good and is appreciated by the buyers. But, some of their designs with respect to clothes and jewellery are not contemporary and in sync with the modern taste. Hence, TRIFED is accessing designers from Milan to train them in textile design. They will also be trained in customising jewellery to make them more popular,” Mr. Thomson said.
The Federation has value experts who assess the worth of each product before it is priced competitively. This would guarantee that the shop in Coimbatore, set to open in July, would ensure that the seller and buyer got their money's worth.
