“We have been planning this for two years to understand what Madurai wants,” says Deepa Sekar, of ‘By Hand from the Heart’s two day unique shopping event that starts in the city today. Deepa founded the platform in partnership with Kshiti Davey in 2011 in Chennai. “It a curated makers market,” she adds. A dozen entrepreneurs and independent designers of art, craft and lifestyle products from Mumbai, Chennai, Nagpur, Bengaluru, Coimbatore and Tirunelveli will be showcasing their labels of clothing, ornaments, footwear, furniture, tiles, bags and artefacts.
“The makers and their products have been carefully chosen in keeping with the needs of the prospective buyers; this is a city of conscious spenders who like to invest in heirloom that is relatable,” adds Deepa, who believes that it is important to build a warm relationship between the creators and customers.
With 25 successful editions in Chennai, Bengaluru, and Coimbatore, the exhibitions remain community-focused, bringing the makers and customers together to appreciate and celebrate handcrafted products through narratives and interactions.
“We have a jury that selects genre-specific artisans and artists, farmers and entrepreneurs from the hundreds of applications we receive from all over the country. We bring new makers in the limelight in every edition,” says Deepa, who herself started off by making trendy jewellery with hand dyed paper. She says while her skills were acknowledged by the World Crafts Council, she felt she did not get the right exposure and projection when she participated in exhibitions. “At any craft fair, it is important to see how well the product has been made and displayed and also understand how it has been made,” she points out.
She then joined Kshiti, a designer-entrepreneur who upcycles fabric into clutches, and conceived the market. By Hand from the Heart rarely repeats it’s makers. “The idea is to get a pan-India representation of all things trendy, innovative and original in art, craft and lifestyle,” says Deepa, who has named the Madurai event One Show Twelve Stories.
Five things to look out for:
Mookuthi artisanal nose ornament: Sarath Selvanathan is the founder curator of this Chennai brand that looks to tell unique Indian stories through its ornaments representing the roots. A traditional aachaari will be available to help pierce the nose the traditional way for those interested.
Price: ₹4,650 to ₹1,25,450
Kanvas Vegan footwear:Design Principal and founder from Mumbai, Komal Panchal, hand paints designer footwear for men and women in an eclectic range of non leather textile (cotton and silk) shoes that are also digitally converted.
Price: ₹1,500 to ₹3,400
Artefakt handmade paper mache dolls: Inspired by her mother, Y Ramani, the doll maker from Nagpur has been handcrafting costume dolls for the last 30 years. She brings the Navarathri collection depicting people, mythological characters, dance forms, rural and urban scenes and will take customised orders.
Price: ₹500 onward
Design Infinity:The founder and principal designer from Coimbatore, Sangeetha Subash specialises in designing furniture using upcycled wood because she believes we need to follow our grandparents’ lifestyle to achieve sustainable living and giving back to nature by making the right choices. She comes with a wide variety of interior décor in contemporary and traditional styles.
Price: ₹700 to ₹90,000
Kavin Art Gallery: Founder and Head Designer Ananda Perumal from Tirunelveli brings coconut shell jewellery, décor and utilities because he loves to craft products that do not pollute the environment and coconut shells are always available in every household in Tamil Nadu.
Price: ₹100 to ₹3,500
Also check out:
Clothing
Woven editions, Chikankari from Mumbai by Abhilasha Trivedi (₹3,000 to ₹50,000)
Wood & Yarn, Block prints by Anju Nair from Chennai (₹1,600 to ₹8,000)
Nuppur’s from Bangalore for Madhubani art saris by Nupur Ghosh (₹3,000 to ₹10,000)
Porgai Artisans Association from Sittilingi for organic cotton with Lambadi embroidery by Dr.Lalitha Regi (₹400 to ₹3,000)
Ceramic Affairs
Handmade tiles by Padmapriya Mowli from Coimbatore (₹100 to ₹2,000)
Madurai’s eco-friendly bags by Krishnan of The Yellow Bag Movement (₹150 to ₹1,500)
@ Urban Spice Gallery, K K Nagar
Date and Time: June 14 and 15; 10 am to 8 pm.