Stunning range from Madhya Pradesh

MRIGANAYANEE'S TREASURE house of handcrafted items, featuring the best in Madhya Pradesh's craft heritage, opens today at Sri Sankara Hall, TTK Road, Alwarpet.

The exhibition-cum-sale offers to the Chennai public a wide range of functional and decorative artefacts ranging from stunning cire per due tribal dhokraware and iron craft images to stone sculpture, papier mache folk toys, wood cuts, dhurries, textiles, and of course the incomparable Chanderi and Maheshwari saris from Indore.

Few States in the country can compare with the rich tribal craft traditions of Madhya Pradesh. The M.P. Handicrafts and Handloom Corporation exhibition captures the poetry and charm of tribal craft items in a dazzling array of dhokraware lamps, palanquins, figures of gods and goddesses, tribal horns and much else.

Exquisitely crafted, the dhokrawork artefacts provide many nuanced vignettes of tribal life such as hunting scenes, bridal palanquins, beautifully crafted trees, etc.

Equally compelling are Bastar's famed iron work figures and traditional lampswith their stunning silhouettes. Other tribal art work on display are burnt log woodcut panels featuring typical tribal figures, animals, etc., as well as items of logwood furniture.

The skills of traditional stone carvers of Madhya Pradesh can be seen in soft stone figures of deities, animal and human figuresmany of which are crafted with a rare sense of movement and plasticity.

For the vegetable dye-block print buff Mringnayanee's sale has a great deal to offer. The compelling charm of Bagh prints with their typical motifs embellish yardage, saris, dupattas and bed linen in a profusion of vibrant vegetable hues.

Also available are hand-woven Maheshwari and Chanderi saris with their sinuous texture and ethereal delicacy.

A new attraction at the sale, displayed for the first time in Chennai, are woven jute and bamboo chiks creating a new vocabulary for elegant and cool interior statements. Crafts from other States are also being showcased at the MPHHC exhibition-cum-sale. Attractive 20 per cent discounts are being offered on all items.

The exhibition concludes on August 8.

- P. C.

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