Yeh Delhi Hai Mere Yaar...

["This is Delhi, my friend". Foot tapping song from the movie Delhi 6]

[Dastkar calendar 2011] 

It's spring in Delhi (almost!). My favorite time of the year in the city. Delhi's calendar is overflowing this month with all sorts of interesting events related to culture, art, music, crafts and food. Mr. Blog insists that I share with you the various craft events I'll be heading to in the coming days (yes, Mr. Blog is considerate like that).  So if you stay in or around Delhi, or are visiting Delhi, make sure you too drop into these fabulous fairs:

Virasat and Dastkar

The Dastkar Basant Bazaar 2011 (spring fair) is at a new location this time, and is also accompanied by the Virasat cultural festival. As always, I will be making more than a couple of trips, not only for the crafts fair, but also for the Dastangoi performances by the über talented veteran and new performers. Read more about the art of story telling - Dastangoi here.


When: Feb 11th - 25th
Time: 11:00a - 8:00p
Where: 15-A, Sector 7, Dwarka

(click on the poster to enlarge)

Jaya Utsav

A festival to celebrate the living traditions of Mahabharata has literary evenings, cultural performances, workshop and sale by master craftsmen, ritual demonstrations and more as it's lineup. Download the program details from here.

When: Feb 10th - 25th/March 10th
Time: 10:30a onwards
Where: IGNCA, Janpath

(click on the poster to enlarge)

Surajkund Fair

The annual fair celebrating Indian crafts and local dance/music is currently on.

When: Feb 1st-15th

Time: 10:30a onwards

Where: Surajkund, Faridabad

(click on the poster to enlarge)

And the perennial favorite Delhi Haat, has a 'Handicraft Cluster Creation' fair running till Feb 14th. I am also thinking of checking out the Indian Handicrafts and Gifts Fair this time [at Greater Noida, from Feb 19th to 22nd].

And for all my readers who aren't anywhere near Delhi, fret not! Mr. Blog, the new camera and I shall bring vignettes from each festival we visit.

Have a good weekend folks!

 

Books. And a giveaway

Tara Books

Tara Books was started by Gita Wolf, initially as a publisher of children’s books. Now their catalogue has expanded to include art and design books for adults, beautiful stationery and posters, as well as a select list of fiction. The thing that immediately draws you to the books published by Tara is the rich visual appeal. Designed by Indian artisans and young designers, each book published by Tara is a collector's copy. And the best news...you can buy their products online! Shop here, and connect with Tara on Facebook to get updates on their latest releases.  

The Art of Book by Seagull Publishing

Seagull Publishing is an independent publishing house based in Calcutta with books in the area of contemporary fiction, philosophy, literature, drama, cinema, music and a selective list of literature in translation.
Seagull is celebrating 28 years in publishing this year, starting with an exhibition 'The Art of the Book' that celebrates Seagull's passion for good design through a recent series of digital collages and book covers created by their designer Sunandini Banerjee. 

You can buy prints from this exhibition here. And browse through the many books (India and UK site) and art prints available for sale online.

And, The Loaded Trunk Giveaway

Do you remember my post on Roni and her fabulously Loaded Trunk? Well, she is back with a fresh stock of treasures from all over the world, and is hosting giveaways on her site to celebrate her first year mark. Drop her a line and you just might be the lucky winner!

Craftmark - Hand made in India

Have you been searching high and low for crafts from India that are traditional yet innovative, exquisite yet sustainable, competitively priced yet follow fair trade practices? Well, look no further. For Craftmark is here. Just for you.  

Leveraging Craftmark as a brand, the All India Artisans & Craftworkers Welfare Organization (AIACA),  accredits genuine Indian handicrafts, encourages fair trade standards across the sector and supports new product development working with both grass root artisans and new designers, among many other activities that support traditional handloom and handicrafts from India.

Given below is just a sample of the treasure that you can find under the Craftmark umbrella..

And did I say 'Just for you' somewhere in the post above?

Yes, I did!

Craftmark has a special offer for the readers of An Indian Summer

Look through their catalogue, and their facebook group
And if any of the products interests you
You can reach out to Sharmila
[s.wood (at) aiacaonline.org]
For sales queries!

[Note: Some of the products may be subject to minimum order quantities] 

[All images: Craftmark]

Indian Art at V&A

Victoria and Albert Museum in London has an excellent online print site from where you can order prints of the art exhibited in the museum. V&A Prints have a selection of more than 3000 images from the Victoria and Albert Museum, one of the most renowned collections of art and design in the world. The images for sale have been chosen to reflect the richness and diversity of culture, lifestyle and art found at the V&A. I loved some of the prints in the Indian Art section, as well as their collection of vintage posters. Definitely worth a look, and quite reasonably priced too.

[All images from V&A]

Dastkar 2010 and me

You know what I did last weekend. 

Don't you?

I went to the Dastkar spring fair that is on at the IGNCA lawns in New Delhi. It wasn't as much of a 'spring' fair though, what with the grey skies and unexpected rain playing spoil sport at the open venue. But the beautiful crafts and textiles, and the friendly craftspeople more than made up for the un-february like weather.

 

Here are some snapshots from Dastkar:

Cloth lanterns right at the entrance; Kutch embroidered coat; Painted urns (matka)

Lacquer toys from Ettikopakka district in the state of Andhra Pradesh; Metal figurines from Bastar

Wooden furniture and items from Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh; Woven rugs from Gujrat (I picked up the red/yellow one from this lot)

Painted bamboo bangle boxes; Tanchoi weave saree

Clip boards made of block printed recycled fabric; colorful fabric bags from Ranthambore's women coop in Rajasthan

Ok, so the two pics above refuse to part and let me write between them. I will let them be given the post Valentine day spirit and such. 

Pic 1: Phad painting; another form of embroidery from Gujarat
Pic 2: Row upon row of earthern urns; Kite stall! The ubiquitous charkhi and maanjha : kite spool and line

 

[All pics taken by me]

Rijuta's Art...

...for An Indian Summer!

Rijuta Rishi is a graphic designer, and an eternal doodler. I loved her work when she first shared some of her art with me sometime back. One thing led to another, and she very graciously created banner art for An Indian Summer (look look - new header!). This header heralds the soon-to-come autumn/fall season :)

Rijuta on her art:

"I'm very drawn to ancient India, its mysticism and myths, so it's probably why I get very inspired by the traditional arts. There's room to 'say' something in many layers, and the symbolism is subtly embedded amidst their stories. Traditional forms feature in my doodles and art quite often, and mostly, I forget the world when I'm doing these."

If you are interested to see more of Rijuta's work, or contact her for assignments and design work, please email her.

Thanks Rijuta for the lovely header for An Indian Summer!

And one thing led to another...

I came across...

which led to...

which led to...

Hot Pink - The first concept store in Jaipur, Rajasthan! A collaboration of Munnu Kasliwal and Marie-Helene de Taillac, Hot Pink offers chic and contemporary fashion from Indian designers, who respect and use traditional Indian techniques.

While the beautifully designed site of this store, located at Narain Niwas, immediately attracts your attention, the site also has a treasure trove of information on Jaipur. From Jaipur shopping recommendations to heritage hotels to local tourist map, all made lovely by Jean -Philippe Delhomme's beautiful paintings!

You can download the very well put together Jaipur guide for your next Jaipur trip!

Also totally worth drooling over are Marie-Helene de Taillac jewels! Look through Marie's site for absolutely gorgeous fine jewellery designed by her, using gemstones and craftsmen expertise from India.

I am waiting for my next windfall to acquire one of Jean's paintings and one (maybe two, or three?) of Marie's jewels. So long..

Going on a Chai Pilgrimage!

Husband and Wife

2 creative peeps

World travelers

One, a therapeutic ayurvedic teacher

Other, an illustrator

and together they are

Chai Pilgrims!

I came across Jenny and Patrick's flickr set and totally adored the quirky illustrations sketched during their travels in India and Nepal. Their love for chai (tea), and India is clearly seen in Jenny's many sketches

More of Jenny's art work can be found on her site. The couple's travel and chai experiences will be out in a book in fall next year...