Nagaland: Recently, in a bid to promote the tribal handicraft and handloom products of the region and to showcase it to the world the essence of ethnicity, the northeastern province of Nagaland hosted the first ever ‘Aadi Mahotsav’ under the aegis of the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED).
True ethnicity is the perfect term that reveals the real identity of the handloom and handicraft items from the northeastern states of India. Home to more than 200 tribes, the region’s tribal artisans have contributed largely in churning out some of the best quality handloom and handicraft products that hold the viewers captivated with their magnetic charms.
As the states have immaculate flora and fauna, it has brought rich forms of art in the lives of tribal people and the handicraft and handloom pieces have drawn worldwide attention.
Regional Manager of TRIFED said, “The motive of organizing the mahotsav is to bring the tribal artisans under a roof to promote their products. In fact, they do not know what is the price of their products outside the northeast region; they are not getting proper market so the main objective is to give them market. We are identifying their products; we will select and give supply order and we will dispatch all these items to other parts of our country. We have 14 regional offices like Guwahati and we are having 42 own showrooms included 87 outlets. There we will display all the products selecting it from here. We will procure and sell it out in other parts.”
With an aim to improve the livelihood of indigenous communities by creating a sustainable market and business opportunities for the tribal artisans, a total of 35 artisans, mostly women, from different northeastern states including Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim and Nagaland took part in the tribal fair and displayed varieties of handloom and handicraft items.
Handloom apparels, household products, bags, and ethnic handmade jewelry and food products were showcased during the 10 days long fair.
Handmade bamboo and cane products ranging from baskets, dustbins, home decors like lamp shades, pen stand etc were also on display that caught the attention of the customers who thronged the fair from every nook and corner of the region.
One of the major attractions of the Aadi mahotsav was the stall put up by a Karbi woman weaver who displayed traditional karbi handmade products ranging from karbi designed bags, traditional dresses, jewelry, karbi jackets etc which very well reflected the colours and designs of the ancient time.
She said, “Earlier I got an opportunity to display my products in different states such as Rajasthan, Goa, Guwahati, Jorhat etc. The sale was good but it is much better in the northeast. People in other parts also buy my products and in both northeast and other parts of the country, the sale is good.”
Besides these, khadi apparels with a slight of modernized touch also attracted a large number of buyers from different parts of the country.
Organizing such fair helps tribal’s celebrate the spirit of tribal culture, craft, cuisine and commerce, and also provide tribal artisans with an opportunity to exhibit their products in the global platform.
Meticulous craftsmanship and artistic Excellency craftsmanship and artistic creativity are the real identities of the handicraft and handloom products.
[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]