Have you noticed a lantern made from discarded audio cassettes and coasters made from old magazines? This expo held at Coimbatore not too long ago was once all about creating art from recycled and upcycled merchandise. Around 35 artisans from different parts of the country, who specialized in using discarded merchandise, came together with their art work for his or her first ever expo in the city. The match was once the brainchild of sisters Mala and Sonia Dhawan, who're the founders of the NGO, A Hundred Hands, which promotes home made arts and crafts.
An excited Mala tells us, "Coimbatore is a city of art aficionados. The idea of the expo is not only to promote art but also encourage traditional craftsmen to push their boundaries. In an attempt to make handmade works more relevant to the younger generation, artists have given a contemporary twist to their traditional work. We specialize in the concept, 'Be gentle to the earth'. As part of that , we make special functional and zippered bags called Bum bags. These bags are entirely made of discarded jeans by the inmates of NIMHANS (National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences) in Bengaluru." Sonia, provides, "There are tailors who specialize in making these bags. We have made use of every part of the jeans. Now we are mulling over a plan to make good use of the discarded zips as well."
Jagadish C, who focuses on upcycled merchandise, tells us, "While upcycling is reusing waste without destroying it in order to form something new, recycling involves breaking the product down. Upcycling is more energy efficient. Almost every product that we use at home can be reused in a new form." Jagadish has on display lamps, lanterns, mirrors and other art works using discarded audio cassettes and digital camera film reels.
Amita Deshpande, who had come all the means from Pune, provides that the process of recycling and upcycling isn't a cakewalk. "We deal with bags woven from shredded plastic. We first clean the plastic bags and dry them under the sun. We then cut them into pieces and roll on a traditional charkha and then stitch into handbags, office products and decor. We upcycle old denim to make several things like handles to products such as beach bag ; flex banners to make our labels by printing our logo on the back of banners. We use the foam obtained from interior products waste (for eg Sofa) to make protective padding for products such as laptop bags."
While kids have been introduced to the concept that Dirty Hands, the place they have been taught to create art using recyclable subject matter, guests had an enriching time exploring inexperienced choices like coasters made from discarded newspapers and magazines, necklaces made from shredded paper, photograph holders, hangers; seashore mats and desk runners made from banana fibres and natural colours and conventional art like filigree, picket carving and Mughal miniature artwork.
An excited Mala tells us, "Coimbatore is a city of art aficionados. The idea of the expo is not only to promote art but also encourage traditional craftsmen to push their boundaries. In an attempt to make handmade works more relevant to the younger generation, artists have given a contemporary twist to their traditional work. We specialize in the concept, 'Be gentle to the earth'. As part of that , we make special functional and zippered bags called Bum bags. These bags are entirely made of discarded jeans by the inmates of NIMHANS (National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences) in Bengaluru." Sonia, provides, "There are tailors who specialize in making these bags. We have made use of every part of the jeans. Now we are mulling over a plan to make good use of the discarded zips as well."
Jagadish C, who focuses on upcycled merchandise, tells us, "While upcycling is reusing waste without destroying it in order to form something new, recycling involves breaking the product down. Upcycling is more energy efficient. Almost every product that we use at home can be reused in a new form." Jagadish has on display lamps, lanterns, mirrors and other art works using discarded audio cassettes and digital camera film reels.
Amita Deshpande, who had come all the means from Pune, provides that the process of recycling and upcycling isn't a cakewalk. "We deal with bags woven from shredded plastic. We first clean the plastic bags and dry them under the sun. We then cut them into pieces and roll on a traditional charkha and then stitch into handbags, office products and decor. We upcycle old denim to make several things like handles to products such as beach bag ; flex banners to make our labels by printing our logo on the back of banners. We use the foam obtained from interior products waste (for eg Sofa) to make protective padding for products such as laptop bags."
While kids have been introduced to the concept that Dirty Hands, the place they have been taught to create art using recyclable subject matter, guests had an enriching time exploring inexperienced choices like coasters made from discarded newspapers and magazines, necklaces made from shredded paper, photograph holders, hangers; seashore mats and desk runners made from banana fibres and natural colours and conventional art like filigree, picket carving and Mughal miniature artwork.
Artists come together to promote sustainable lifestyle
![Artists come together to promote sustainable lifestyle]()
Reviewed by Kailash
on
December 29, 2017
Rating:
