Design and skill make a mark at Pondy expo

Puducherry: Billed as an attempt to resuscitate craft and entrepreneur skills of Puducherry, 'Made in Pondy', an expo of brands from Puducherry, is an eclectic mix of design and skill. Pondicherry heritage festival is hosting "Made in Pondy", featuring well-known products from around Auroville-Pondicherry region, as well as live demos of traditional arts and crafts.

With metal work products, leather products, paintings, sarees, brass oil lamps, wood carvings, stone carvings, artificial jewellery, brass sheet metal products, paper products, incense and perfumery, hand crafted gourmet food and handloom products on display, Made in Pondy, the fair for rural products in Puducherry has emerged as one-stop destination for art connoisseurs across the city to explore the traditional craftsmanship.

Apart from high profile brands including Hidesign leather products and Maroma spa, lesser known brands and local products are also seen in the bazar. Boutique including Upasana, dis, Lal, fragrance and incense outlet Auroshikha, which is part of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Naturellenment food products, Panfab handloom products of Pondicherry co-operative handloom society are some of the attractions of the bazar.

Most of the crafts in display are eco-friendly artisanal products. This include Naturellenment food products, which are hand crafted without any added artificial preservatives, flavours or colors, Upasana, which is using organic fabrics to create conscious sustainable fashion, Lal boutique, which came up with 'useful waste' an initiative to use non-recyclable waste materials to make the 'blocks' for printing instead of conventional wooden blocks and Aurobindo hand-made paper products.

Most of these brands work exclusively with village woman there by supporting the local economy. "Made in Pondy is an initiative from Pondicherry Heritage Festival to celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit of Pondicherry. There are more than 20 internationally renowned products from the soil of Pondicherry featured in the crafts bazaar," said Natesha Iyer, spokesperson for Heritage Festival.

The three-day exhibition is being organized at Crafts Bazaar, near Gandhi at beach road here. The heritage festival is being organised by the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (Intach) Puducherry, People for Pondicherry's Heritage, PondyCAN, and the Departments of Art and Culture and Tourism.