A husky business

KOCHI: For A Prathap, an artisan based in Kovalam, Thiruvananthapuram, handicrafts are a medium for elaborate experimentations. His unique sculptures, made of coconut husks, are made with meticulous attention. A two-time national award winner in handicrafts, his recent work, a sculpture of Ganapathy, has been shortlisted for the prestigious ‘Shilpa Guru’ award. It was completed using 30 coconut husks.

Prathap has been working with coconut husk for the past 40 years. Usually, he creates pieces from a single husk. “I picture the work in my mind first,” says Prathap. He took almost 1.5 years to complete the Ganapathy. “It was a challenge to combine many husks. Also, I had to work on carving the fingers and tusk,” he says. 

Prathap has designed some high temper knives for carving the figures. He’s really thrilled that the sculpture has been nominated for the award. “It’s an honour and I’m elated. I knew the work would fetch me a nomination,” he says. 

He also shared an interesting experience, when he went to submit the work at the office of development commissioner (Handicrafts) in Bengaluru.“An officer came to me and asked me to unwrap the work and show him. He was amazed by the Ganapathy idol and called out all the employees in the office. It is a six storeyed building. All of them came down and everyone was in awe of it. There were a few Malayalis too,” recounts Prathap.

His first work was the sculpture of a monkey. “That wasn’t quite perfect,” he quips.  He worked further and mastered the art. He has trained many artisans too, under several Central Government initiatives. “First, I worked for free. Later, I started exploring business possibilities. Now I export my products and even sell them in different tourist destinations,” he says.Prathap is now busy setting up his space at the Arts and Craft Village, Vellar. “That kept me occupied during the lockdown. Also, I’m planning to start photo sculptures and wall decorations,” says Prathap.