Silk Fab’, the exhibition-cum-sale of silk handloom fabrics that enables an interface between weavers and consumers, commenced at Hotel Pacific near parade ground here from today. The exhibition is an initiative of the office of Development Commissioner for Handlooms, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India through National Handloom Development Corporation (NHDC) Limited to provide direct access to the handloom weavers to market their products to consumers in various cities of India.
The representatives of various State Government bodies, apex Societies, primary handloom weavers Co-operative Societies and Handloom agencies would participate in the event. Apart from them, 60 agencies belonging to 11 States would attend the exhibition.
In the 14 day long exhibition, visitors can select from dress materials made from Assam’s Muga Silk, Bihar’s Tassar, Kantha, Madhubani prints, Chhattisgarh’s Tribal work and Kosa Silk, Jammu and Kashmir’s printed Silk Sarees, Jharkhand’s Kantha and Kosa Silk, Karnataka’s Chintamani, Kasuti Work and Karnataka Silk, Madhya Pradesh’s Chanderi and Maheshwari, Maharashtra’s Paithani and Pune Sarees , Odisha’s Bomkai and Sambalpur, Uttar Pradesh’s Tanchoi, Jamdani, Jamawar (Banarasi) and West Bengal’s Baluchari, Kantha and Tangail silk. It is expected that this will a major exhibition
It is pertinent to mention here that the handloom sector of India employs more than 65 L people directly and indirectly which is next only to agricultural sector in the country. The art of handloom weaving has traditional values attached to it and each region has exquisite varieties. The uniqueness of silk products such as Pochampalli, Paithani, Kanjivaram, Banarasi, Jamdani, Baluchari, and Ikkat, to name a few attracts customers across the globe with exclusive weaves, designs and traditional motifs.
The Govt of India has launched the "Handloom Mark" scheme for handloom products and "Silk Mark" for genuinely of silk products, to encourage and give a distinct identity to the products, apart from highlighting the uniqueness of the products. It also serves a guarantee for the buyer that the product being purchased is genuinely hand-woven.