Her hands move deftly, putting a machine to shame, when she braids the threads around pins in a particular pattern. It’s rhythmic and nimble, but accurate at the same time. Being an expert in bobbin lace, Yedla Sulochana from Station Ghanapur in Jangam district is one among the few who are still into lace work.
Accompanied by two other workers, Sulochana was seen creating a lace design at the three-day awareness programme organised by the Telangana State Handicrafts Development Corporation at Golkonda Emporium in the district headquarters on Thursday.
“We used to get orders from Italy and other European countries when Father Augusto Colombo guided us in our work,” she said. A Christian missionary, Father Augusto Colombo made sure that they got orders round the year. That’s the time when about 6,000 persons, including those from the neighbouring villages, used to make lace.
Work distribution
“We used to work as a team and depending on the skills of a particular group, work was distributed. In the late 90s, I used to get a salary of ₹10,000 a month,” Sulochana told The Hindu.
There are about 1,500 bobbin lace makers in the district now, but only about 50 of them get work. It’s time-consuming, what with a design taking about a week to 15 days to be completed.
To popularise the art of bobbin lace, the TS Handicrafts Development Corporation has been working with the lace-makers since the past six months.
“We came across this when we conducted a survey on district-specific arts and decided to make it popular across the State. We have sent a proposal to the Union Government to promote the bobbin lace art, which we hope would be cleared soon,” said S. Rajesh, a textile designer and Consultant to Development Commissioner for Handicrafts.
The other art forms that were demonstrated live at the awareness programme include pot-making, scroll painting, making lacquer bangles, silver filigree, making wooden painted toys, tatting lace, peepal-leaf painting, and dhokra casting.