From the Chennai Santhe exhibition in January to the recently organised Hastakala Utsav, Kalakshetra has grown to become the of the favourite shopping haunts in the city. And here’s one more reason why! The Great Indian Flea, a collaborative event by Bengaluru-based event planners Gravity Eventful Affairs and Buzzonify, after their March gig is now back with their third edition.
On for ten days, it will feature over 107 stalls, over 127 vendors from various parts of India including Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, among others. The exhibition is aiming at giving a platform to small-scale artisans and entrepreneurs, we’re told.“With every edition, at least 50 new vendors join the exhibition. This time we are concentrating more on arts, crafts and handloom. By bringing down textiles from across India, we want to portray the various textile traditions in India,” says Syed Hisham, the organiser of the event.
The handloom section will have fabrics such as Bhagalpuri, Chikankari, Maheshwari, Chanderi, and more, all of them sourced from its weavers directly. Watch out for Harinarayan who has Rajasthani Bangada wooden craft works, Muneer who deals with ceramic handpainted crockery and Ramdev who has Rajasthani handpainted lamps. Bringing handmade keychains, bookmarks and showpieces using materials such as aluminum wires, Deepak Gola, the 35-year old craftsman from New Delhi says he sources his materials from local hardware shops. “I’m coming to Chennai for the first time and I’m sure that people here will love the handmade pieces I’m bringing. There are very few artists in the whole country who make products such as these using materials such as wires,” he shares. Apart from the stalls, the exhibition will also display the making of pottery, terracotta statues, bangles as well as showpieces such as miniature cars and bikes.
Free Entry.
Starts today. Till August 12.
10 am onwards.
At Kalakshetra Foundation.
fathima@newindianexpress.com| @fathiimaashraf