India has a rich heritage of aesthetically designed, hand crafted masterpieces produced by artisans, craftsmen and weavers for centuries. These skills and crafts are used extensively in home textiles, home décor, houseware and gifts products to bring a unique sense of culture and heritage to Indian homes.
HGH India has been promoting these rich heritage products under the brand “Indian Heritage” since 2018 to support Indian artisans in marketing their products such as handicrafts, decorative accessories, handmade carpets, handloom & Khadi based home textiles, bamboo & cane products, coir & jute products, houseware, gifts and fashion accessories. This is being done in association with various individual companies, theme pavilions, trends pavilion and group participation of various national award winning artisans and craftsmen through various Government sponsored agencies and institutions.
At HGH India 2021, retailers, institutional and gift buyers can benefit enormously by exploring these unique and varied products for sourcing on a regular basis. They can add distinctive value to their stores, alongside the regular range.
Indian Heritage zone in hall 10 will be showcasing a live demonstration by master craftsmen and also National Awardees themselves. Smt. Lajwanti will display phulkari embroidery products; Mohd. Matloob will present products in wood carving; Farooq Khan products in metal engraving, Girraj Prasad houseware products in terracotta, and so on will display for application in variety of decorative and houseware products. This pavilion is sponsored by HGH India with the purpose of promoting these fine skills amongst retailers and distributors from all over India.
Various institutions and organisations under Government of India and various State Governments are bringing in group participation of manufacturers from Indian Heritage sector.
In addition to an extensive support from Development Commissioner Handicrafts, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India; organisations like UPEA, Chhattisgarh Hast Shilp Vikas Board, NECTAR and Directorate of Handloom & Handicrafts, Kashmir will bring in the hidden treasure of Indian Heritage arts and crafts for retailers to source from. These include the SC/ST hub under the aegis of National Small Industries Corporation Ltd. (NSIC), NECTAR amongst several others.
Government has been strongly supporting India’s handicrafts, carpets and handloom sectors which are of high socio-economic importance to the country. These sectors not only provide large employment and empower artisans, crafts persons and women; but also help in preserving our rich cultural and creative heritage.
Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH) which is successfully leading India’s export promotion efforts in the world markets for decades has organised a group participation of its several members, who will offer a wide range of handicraft and decorative solutions.
Directorate of Handloom & Handicrafts, Government of Jammu & Kashmir, is adding another dimension to HGH India 2021 by bringing in variety of famous Kashmiri embroidery and crafts in form of walnut wood carving, crewel embroidery, carpets, leather goods and pashmina shawls through participating exhibitors.
NSIC has organised, under its SC/ST hub scheme, a group participation of its several members from various clusters and hubs eligible for this scheme, who will bring in a variety of houseware, textile and home décor products.
These efforts collectively bring a huge variety of creative handicrafts, carpets, hand woven, ethnic and other products to the retailers. They can source a wide variety from across the country under one roof. From the exhibitors’ perspective it is a unique opportunity to transact business with retailers from over 400 cities and towns across India within 4 days.
Wood Carving
The wood is first cut to the required size and thereafter its surface is
smoothened using planer. Then the required design is engraved using
self-made special tools. Finally the entire pieces is polished to give shine.
Finely wood carved products include fancy furniture, partitions, and photo
frames and boxes.
Matloob’s art has taken him to countries as far as England, Italy, Egypt
and Oman.
Special kind of wood such as sandalwood, Rose wood and ebonite wood
etc. are chosen for producing intricate carving work. This craft needs fine
concentration, skill and strong power of imagination.
Mohammad Matloob
Born in 1956 at Nagina, Uttar Pradesh in an ordinary
family, Mohammad Matloob has raised his stature in
his craft to such an extent that in 2016 he was
awarded Shilp Guru Award for Wood carving, engraving and Inlay work
by the Government of India.
Mohammad Matloob is also the recipient of National Merit Award in
2003, National Award in 2005 and UNESCO Seal of Excellence Award in
2006; He has also won State Award for his crafts in the year 2002;
Son of Late Shri Mohammad Ayyub, Mohammad Matloob is a resident of
Delhi. He learnt the art of wood carving from his Guru Shri Abdul Rehman
Khan and Shabir Hussain, a National Awardee in wood carving.
Art Metalware
The art of metal work is known to Indians for almost 5,000 years from
now. Gold and Silver plated copper sheets are used to make these
products mainly table top & flower vase – Planter and Lamps etc. In
making this product, the Brass copper sheet is first cut with the help of
the heavy duty scissor in required shape. After beating the sheet with
wooden and steel hammers, the required shape is obtained & the small
pieces are joined by wielding them together. After engraving, molten lac
is applied which settles down in the cavities.
Chaitai work is executed along the contours of the design with the help
of very fine tools & compass. After removing the lac, the portions of the
design which loose their shape are again set right using small tools. After
buffing, coating of gold & silver foils is applied on the items or is also
polished well to give it wonderful way to add beauty to life.
Farooq Khan
Farooq Khan is a recipient of National Award by the
Government of India for excellence in Art Metalware
/ Chaitai work. Farooq Khan was born in 1981 in a
family of craftsmen. His father, Haji Nasiruddin has been
awarded Shilp Guru by Ministry of Textiles, Government of India. His
three brothers are also National Awardees. Farooq Khan learnt this art
from his father and is today exporting these products to USA, Germany,
Brazil and several other European countries.
With 20 years of experience, Farooq Khan today has over 20 artisans
working in his team and produces art Metalware on a commercial scale.
Terracotta
Terracotta artefacts are made with common clay and can take a month and a half to process. The term is also used to refer to the natural brownish orange colour of most terracotta. Terracotta is a very flexible material to sculpt. Pieces can be formed by both an “additive” technique, adding portions of clay to the growing pieces, or a “subtractive” one, carving into a solid lump with a knife or similar tool. Most common is a combination of these, building up the broad shape and then removing pieces, or adding more, to produce details.
The most common method of production is to take an appropriate refined clay, then form it to the desired shape. Alternatively it may be made with one or more moulds. After drying, it is placed in a kiln or atop combustible material in a pit, and then fired. The iron content, reacting with oxygen during firing, gives the fired body a reddish colour, though the overall colour varies widely across shades of yellow, orange, buff, red, “terracotta”, pink, grey or brown.
Giriraj Prasad
Recipient of National Award by the Government of India for excellence in Teracotta craft.
Giriraj Prasad was born in a small village known as Karouli in Rajasthan in a traditional terracotta artist’s family surrounded by pots and clay. He has an experience of more than 36 years in this art form.
He has showcased his craft at several Exhibitions in Delhi like the India International Trade Fair, National Handicrafts and Handlooms Museum (NHHM) and Dilli Haat. Also participated in the famous Surajkund International Crafts Mela, in Haryana.
Phulkari
Punjab and Haryana are noted for ‘phulkari’ which means ‘flowered work’ traditionally embroidered by women. The base of phulkari embroidery is a coarse cotton cloth in orange, red or blue. The embroidery is worked in flossed silk, the motifs sometimes geometric and stylised, sometimes figurative and based on local images.
The designs are vigorous and masterly. Phulkari work comes alive with horizontal, diagonal and vertical stitches, producing patterns of various shapes and sizes. One variety of phulkari is the ‘bagh’ or garden, which is used for embroidering the edge of the cloth to produce a border like effect. The embroidery which is executed in a turning stitch on the reverse of the material ultimately produces a design on the proper side.
Phulkari which was once an important part of a Punjabi bride’s trousseau, is now being adapted on Home décor items like bed-spreads, curtains and wall hangings and cushion covers. Dresses, bags and pouches are also embellished with phulkari.
Smt. Lajwanti
Smt. Lajwanti, is a distinguished handloom artist from Patiala who has been promoting pulkari embroidery for over four decades. She was honoured with the Padma Shri Award for the year 2021.
Born in 1953, in a poor family in a remote village in Punjab. Smt. Lajwanti had inclination towards her work from her childhood days. She has got many training appreciation certificates from schools, colleges like NIFT, Mumbai. Her work is acclaimed both at national and international levels. She started her own production unit in which more than 400 people have been imparted training under the Guru Shishya Parampara Scheme with the support of the Government and her own initiative.
Smt. Lajwanti is the recipient of numerous awards and honours including National Award in 1994, National Merit Certificate in 1993, MSME Award, Khadi Promotion Awards in 2019, India SME Forum Award in 2020.
