Anooja Jayalakshmi, an architect, creates some of the best decors ever from banana fibres. Now, she is trying to promote her handicrafts in the state.
Anooja Jayalakshmi, an architect, creates some of the best decors ever from banana fibres. Now, she is trying to promote her handicrafts in the state.

Spruce up your home with plantain decors

Architect Anooja Jayalakshmi has been crafting furniture and decors from plantain fibres. Now, she is trying to popularise the craft in the state

KOCHI: Who knew the ubiquitous plantain tree can be refashioned into furniture or home decors! However, Anooja Jayalakshmi, an architect, creates some of the best decors ever from banana fibres. Now, she is trying to promote her handicrafts in the state.

Anooja always envisaged a sustainable line of designs, with green furniture or decors that can be discarded right into the earth after being rendered useless. She is now doingher PhD in ensuring sustainable livelihod for artisans at NIFT and at the same time working towards ensuring a sustainable livelihood for artisans around her. As part of her project, she has tied up with an artisan cluster known as Friends Forum Cluster at Parassuvaikkal to bring more visibility to sustainable furniture and decors made out of banana fibre.  

Kerala is a state that has extensive banana cultivation. But it isn’t cashing in on the possibilities of making articles from banana fibre, says Anooja. The trunk of the plantain tree is used to extract the banana fibres from which the handicrafts can be made. The work is labour intensive, often taking two to three days to craft the product.

Anooja has always been enamoured by the natural fibres and how they get transformed into handmade articles. “While in Kerala, I tried to document the fibre craft. Not much literature was available regarding this,” she recalls. And now, working with artisans on banana fibre and palmyra fibre, Anooja says hers is an effort to upskill the artisans to create more ergonomically efficient articles.

“Though we have huge plantain cultivation areas, the trunk of the plant is not used after the harvest and is discarded. The cluster which I am working on buys the fibre from Tamil Nadu and then works on them. ,” says Anooja. From bags, rugs, planters and lampshades, banana fibre can be used to make a variety of home decors and furniture. “They are eco-friendly and very strong  and you can discard it easily into the soil. ” says Anooja. She hopes to conduct an exhibition featuring the products. 

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