Visitors crowd traditional handicrafts fair in Vizag

A vast variety of exquisite, traditional artefacts by artisans from across India is attracting a steady stream of visitors to an ongoing handicraft fair in Visakhapatnam, which started from February 14.

The ten-day exhibition organised by the Ministry of Textiles in association with Andhra Pradesh Handicraft Development Corporation, aims at providing a platform to small-scale artisans where they can showcase their products and provide a boost to their business which is not exposed to bigger markets.

Handicrafts, textiles and decorative artefacts remain the highlight of the ongoing fair as visitors throng to the apparels and showpieces stalls.

The artisans proudly displayed the fruits of their labour.

"I have a stall here showcasing "chicken embroidery" work and through this we are also promoting the embroidery work famous in northern Lucknow city. We aspire that this embroidery work should be known throughout India and we are also expecting good sales here," said a stall owner of embroidered clothes, Sunidhi Mishra.

Meanwhile, another stall-owner, Shazia Salim, expected good sales which would not only provide a boost to the artisans but also bring revenue to run their family.

"The government is organising this exhibition for the past 20 years and in every such programme we get a free stall and sometimes they even provide us with tickets if the venue of the exhibition is far from our hometown. If the sales are good, we can send our children to school and also take care of our family. We also have embroidery experts who work with us. This embroidery work takes a lot of time and involves a lot of skill. Many young girls in the age-group of 20 to 22 years suffer from weak eyesight because the entire work is done with hand,"added Salim.

A wide array of ethnic products including hand embroidered products, Tibetan art products, wooden items, clay and mud items were displayed at various stalls.

The fair offers a unique opportunity to the people of the state to have a direct interaction with artisans and weavers from all over the country and to be able to purchase goods without any middle men.

The fair which will continue till February 23, and starts at 10 a.m. and continues till 9 p.m. daily.