Indian and Sri Lankan craftsmen to the fore:

Handicrafts exhibition, a dream come true

By Ananda KANNANGARA

Our visit to see traditional handicrafts manufactured by our craftsmen at the National Handicraft Village, Battaramulla last week was memorable. Unlike our first visit to the village five years ago, this time we were able to see how our craftsmen were making various handicraft items along with Indian craftswomen. We saw both Sri Lankan and Indian craftsmen making handicraft by sharing their personal experience for a worthy cause.

Minister Douglas Devananda and Chairman NCC Buddhi Keerthisena inspect the handicraft.

Craftsmen get ready for the exhibition.

Turning out handicraft

They were getting ready for an exhibition which is scheduled to be held at the Handicraft Village in the first week of December this year, under the patronage of Minister Douglas Devananda.

The handicraft village is in a green environment. The area is calm and quiet. The village is located within the Janakala Kendraya premises. The Jankala Kendraya was opened three decades ago with the objective of helping thousands of rural folk who earn money for their day-to-day living after making various handicraft items.

The Chairman of the National Crafts Council (NCC), Buddhi Keerthisena is the main person behind the forthcoming exhibition. He is supported by a bevy of employees in the Crafts Council to make the exhibition a success.

Keerthisena, a renowned personality in the field of handicrafts had a dream of holding an exhibition of handicraft along with our neighbouring Indian craftsmen. Due to the commitment and the sacrifice of Keerthisena, the dream ultimately came true. Accordingly, the exhibition will be held within five weeks from now.

A senior official of the NCC, Chandima Manohari who is in charge of the exhibition said that this is the first time such an exhibition is conducted by the NCC.

"This is a unique exhibition, as we have decided to exhibit over 500 handicraft items, produced by both local and Indian craftsmen."

The handicraft are manufactured with cut pieces of clothes, pieces of granite, stones and various other waste items taken from garment and other factories.

Sakshi Gambhir and Usha Prajapati, the two Indian craftswomen were at the NCC to train the local group. Both these Indian females were in their late 20s. They are working in renowned design centres in New Delhi.

In addition to graphic designing, Sakshi and Usha are also engaged in photography. They are also well versed in manufacturing handicraft.

We were delighted to see how both Indian and Lankan craftsmen were joining hands and engaged in making handicraft.

Sakshi said she not only trained local craftsmen in the making of Indian style handicraft items, but also learned a lot about from our local craftsmen. She said some local handicraft items were of high quality. A handicraft manufacturer, 23-year old Nilanthi Suraweera said they are producing over 400 items for the exhibition and requested authorities to conduct more handicraft exhibitions at main cities in the country, even after the main exhibition.

It will benefit local handicraftsmen to sell their products without waiting a long period.

He said there are many handicraft manufacturers in the country, but it has become a problem to sell their products without the assistance by the authorities.

As we are aware during the early part of the 17th century when the country was under foreign rule, Sri Lankan traditional craftsmen produced exquisite handicrafts. These handicrafts were used by locals and also the members of foreign families who lived in the island.

The craftsmen used traditional technologies, tools and indigenous raw material such as wood, straw, reed, cane, clay, coconut ekels, bamboos, silver, bronze and gold to produce various handicrafts items.

The Lankan history also reveals that local craftsmen who lived in the city of Ratnapura in the Sabaragamuwa Province used gem stones to manufacture valuable gem studded necklaces and rings for the use of foreigners.

The book on "Sri Lankan handicrafts in the yesteryear", by George Samarasinghe says that local handicrafts has a history of over 2,500 years. During this period, traditional handicraft was also used by our ancient kings and their queens.

Even today, producing handicraft is the livelihood of majority villages of Galle, Ambalangoda and Beruwala in the Southern Province.

They produce various items with clay, fibre, leaf, straw and grass, jute and cotton, cane, bamboo and reed, metal and silver, masks and puppets, musical instruments, cloth painting, patchwork, embroidery, bobbing lace, handwork lace, wood bases handicrafts, leather products, stone carvings, sculpture etc.

The NCC is very popular among locals and foreigners, since it is the one and only place where people could visit and purchase locally made handicraft items at very reasonable prices.

It is also known that the same handicraft items are sold fifty percent higher at many other places in Colombo, Kandy, Hikkaduwa, Beruwala, Tricomalee, Mt. Lavinia, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Sigiriya and several other cities where foreign tourists gather most. A senior NCC official, Kushan Hettiaratchchi said the Council

operates over 15 centres all over the country and wish to open more centres, especially at tourist destinations to encourage local craftsmen to produce and market their products.

The handicraft village has a close rapport with the Sri Lanka Tourism, the Sri Lanka Tourist Promotion Bureau and other private tour operators with the intention of seeking their support to promote the industry.

He said these three sections always extend their support by bringing tour groups to the village and it will benefit both tourists to buy items at cheap rates and also craftsmen to sell their products at reasonable prices.

The stalls are kept open from 10.00 am to 6.00 pm everyday and local dancing troupes are invited on some days to perform in the presence of large tour groups.

The NCC also sends local craftsmen to India regularly for exhibitions and it has already sent local craftsmen to represent the Dilli Heart Exhibition in India, the Surajikoon Maela and Chandigar Mela exhibitions in India.

The Council has also started a craftsmen exchanging program with the Indian Government to enable craftsmen in both countries to learn about their traditional creations.

A craft manufacturer, Nimal Dharmadasa appealed authorities to bring more foreign tourists to the village, so that they could sell their products easily.

A craft manufacturer Priyangani Peiris proposes the authorities to bring more visitors to the village and also conduct craft exhibitions at hotels and the Airport to enable them to sell their products to foreign visitors.