The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Unique doll ensembles on display

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Sep 14, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Unique doll ensembles on display

Staff Reporter

The exhibition is on for 40 days at SIPA’s Craftlink

— Photo: R. Ragu

Dussera special: C.K. Gariyali, secretary to Tamil Nadu Governor, at the exhibition of Kolu dolls that opened in Chennai on Thursday.

CHENNAI: Doll exhibitions galore in the city as the festival season approaches. On Thursday, the Federation of South India Producer Associations (SIPA) organised an exhibition of Kolu dolls, specially for the upcoming Dussera festival, at SIPA’s Craftlink on Kodambakkam High Road.

One of the features of the exhibition was the artisans’ eagerness to describe the process of making dolls to anyone interested.

C.K. Gariyali, secretary to Tamil Nadu Governor, inaugurated the exhibition.

SIPA founder K. Panchaksharam said the Association was established 20 years ago as a network of non-governmental organisations and self-help groups to encourage traditional arts and crafts, and help artisans and producers improve their livelihood.

“The principal assistance provided by SIPA is in the marketing of products. Assistance is also provided in capacity building to manage the business better.”

Thirty-five producer groups, including more than 6,000 artisan families, are part of the network. Some of the artisans were present at the exhibition to promote their products. The display at the exhibition included dolls from various districts of the State, including Cuddalore and Kancheepuram, besides Puducherry and other southern States.

State award winning artisan K. Rangarajan showcased his new series of dolls. Created from papier-mâché, they included several idols, and a set depicting 17 important scenes from the Ramayana. “I have already exported 35 of these sets abroad … brought a few of them here. The dolls and the settings are all hand made and not available anywhere else,” he said.

Mr. Panchaksharam said that the goal of SIPA as well as that of endeavours such as the exhibition was to improve the quality of products and make them more competitive in the market.

The exhibition will be on for 40 days between 9.30 a.m. and 8 p.m. daily, including weekends.

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