Akshara – Crafting Indian Scripts, An Arts & Crafts Exhibition & Crafts Bazaar from 9 to 18 October 2015

What:

Akshara – Crafting Indian Scripts (An Arts and Crafts Exhibition and Crafts Bazaar)

When: 9th – 18th October

Where: Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS), formerly known as Prince of Wales Museum, Fort

Highlights:

- Being conducted for the first time in Mumbai

- A unique Exhibition that combines Indian languages with Crafts from across India

- Core Exhibition of 150 objects spanning 21 craft skills from 70 Craftsmen and women across 16 states

- Daily Crafts demonstration and sale of craftworks from 30 Karigars from around India

- Calligraphy workshops for kids and adults

- Live music, dance & theatre performances with the Dagar Brothers and Sunil Shanbag

- Seminar with writers and scholars Kiran Nagarkar, Ganesh Devy, Devdutt Pattanaik and more

Summary:

The Akshara – Crafting Indian Scripts is a unique & internationally acclaimed exhibition that celebrates Indian languages and crafts.

Conceptualized & produced by Jaya Jaitly & the Dastkari Haat Samiti, Akshara has previously opened in Delhi, Cairo and UNESCO Paris.

Akshara now travels to Mumbai and is being presented by Dastkari Haat Samiti and First Edition Arts in collaboration with Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharashtra Vastu Sangralaya (CSMVS). The Akshara project & exhibition is linked to the themes of literacy, language, skills and crafts.

Along with the core Akshara Exhibition there will be live music concerts, calligraphy workshops for children, live theatre & dance performances, conversations with artists, karigars, writers and scholars, workshops with architects and graphics designers and more.

The Akshara Project at the Premchand Roychand Gallery of CSMVS will present 150 innovative crafts products made by Master Craftsmen spanning 14 Indian languages and scripts. The exhibition will draw from 21 different crafts, textiles and art forms and represents the creation of over 70 craftsman and women from 16 states of India.

Akshara has been showcased at Hanager Arts Centre, Cairo, as part of the festival of ‘India on the Nile’ & also traveled to the UNESCO headquarters in Paris apart from travelling to different parts of India.

The crafts works that will be on exhibition and sale include handcrafted applications of scripts on metal, carved and inlaid wood, clay, stone, pottery and stoneware and papier mache. There is a range of embroidery styles from Bihar, Gujarat and Rajasthan, apart from brocade and Jamdani weaves from Varanasi. Painting styles range from Patachitra from Odisha to Kalighat and Jharna Patachitra form West Bengal. Each exhibit has a special story to tell, either in the way the design came about or the meaning of the script that embellishes the object.

Dastkari Haat Samiti, a not-for-profit national association