Mrignayanee brings all the craft flavours of Madhya Pradesh in an exhibition of handicrafts and handlooms currently on in the city. Pushpa Harith’s beaded jewellery line melds tribal inspired forms with high fashion. A State and National award winner, her fingers work magic with different coloured beads to create a range of tribal neck pieces, pendants, earrings and bangles with an unfussy contemporary twist. Each of her creations is a winner – from silver haslis, neck pieces in fascinating combinations of colour and tribal motif, pendants in soft pinks and blues to eye-catching bangles and superb jail bead necklaces.
“Every piece I create is inspired by jewellery crafted and worn by Chabua tribals, though I do play with colours and size. The technique too is tribal. I buy check beads from Bombay or Delhi. I first create a bead ‘patti’ or strip of the required size and I pass the thread through a bead for strength. Once the ‘patti’ is done, I stitch it on a metal ‘hasli’ or bangle base. The ‘patti’ itself has been worked with motifs such as geometric flowers and snakes as are the pendants which are a copy of tribal forms.” Her dramatic pieces often include these motifs woven into the background or on bangles woven with exquisite miniature flowers. She has trained many marginalised women at her workshops.
Art on canvas
Mohammad Imran Khan stretches a silk cloth on a wooden frame to demonstrate the craft of making ‘Bhopali Batuas’ which came to the region in 1887 from Persia. Originally used by the Nawabs to distribute ‘ashrafis’ to dancing girls, today they are highly-prized accessories glittering with sequins, colourful beads and zari borders. Imran Khan demonstrates the Ari hook embroidery in which the Ari or hook needle is inserted from the bottom of the cloth, heaped with sequins and beads on top and then passed down. “After fixing the cloth on the frame, we trace the design on the cloth and begin with the outlines. In the Bhopali batua we mainly use Ari embroidery, but also bead work, zari and zardozi too.” On offer at the exhibition is an array of handbags, clutches and wall hangings.
Santosh Kumar’s Tikamgarh brass icons and artefacts, a wide range of vegetable dyed block prints, Maheshwari, Chanderi and batik prints are also on display. Also available are Kosa, tussar sari and yardage as well as jute handbags and artefacts.
Mrignayanee’s exhibition of Handicrafts and Handlooms is on at Sri Sankara Hall, 267, TTK Road, Alwarpet, till August 13.
