Held under the brand name of Mrignaynee, this exhibition is being held at Congress Bhavan. (Representational/Express photo: Jyothy Karat)
Written by Aparna Singh
The government has organised an exhibition in Pune to provide a platform to the weavers from Madhya Pradesh. Held under the brand name of Mrignaynee, this exhibition is being held at Congress Bhavan. Mrignaynee provides a variety of handmade products including silk, chiffon, bagh prints, dabu prints, chanderi, maheshwari, tussar, silk, saris, bell metal craft, and other home decor items.
Radhika Rathi, a doctor in Pune who works with underprivileged people across the country, has deeb displaying her work at the exhibition for the past two years. “We have been making handicrafts bags for the last 20-30 years,” said Afrod Jaha, who is a shopkeeper along with Firoz Jaha, at the exhibition. “We are a group of 10 people who work from home. Before coming to Pune we went to Jaipur. Initially, we didn’t explore the market and avoided getting into this business completely because we had a lot of responsibility on us,” said one of them.
Mana Das, a teacher at DAV who had come to shop at the Mrignaynee exhibition, praised the government’s initiative. She comes to the exhibition every year to buy ‘Organsa’, a silk fabric. “It is the Madhya Pradesh government’s initiative to provide a platform to weavers twice a year. Every year, people come to see our products, if they need any change they tell us about it and within 20 to 30 days, we make those changes and they either get it at our shop or at the exhibition next year,” said Trushant Nagarkar, the organiser of the exhibition.
“We have our offices in Madhya Pradesh, where we have gathered all these artists from different parts of the state. I have been given the charge to organise, select and collect feedback. All the income we make here is reported to the government,” he added. He said payments are systematically distributed to the weavers.
Tarik Ansari, a weaver who had initially started his work by making turbans, but now makes bedsheets after he received a proper facility from the government, said, “We make clothes with natural colours where even other handmade clothes are coloured with dye. We use Ayurvedic colours like orange, lemon and iron rust. This way, it lasts longer and even the material is stronger. This art has migrated from Pakistan. It can be made at a particular place only where water is suitable. Baghini river is where we colour the clothes. Even Sridevi wore them in the movie English Vinglish,” said Puran Eskey, a weaver from Madhya Pradesh.
The exhibition, which is open from 12 pm to 9 pm, will end on December 25.
