Annual Terracotta Fair kicks off in city

Bhubaneswar ( Odisha Samachar ) : An exclusive craft specific exhibition in Terracotta styled as “Mruttika-14” has been inaugurated by Handlooms, Textiles & Handicrafts Minister Snehangini Chhuria in presence of Commissioner-cum-Secretary of the Department Chithra Arumugam at IDCO Exhibition Ground (Unit-3) here on Saturday. The annual Terracotta Fair is organised by the Directorate of Handicrafts & Cottage Industries to provide a platform to the artisans/SHGs/Co-operative societies to showcase and sell their products.

As many as 48 stalls have been erected and approximately 90 artisans from different districts such as Keonjhar, Jajpur, Sambalpur, Subarnpur, Bolangir, Rayagada and Khurda, etc are participating in the exhibition.

In view of the high market potential of terracotta items, particularly for interior and exterior decoration as well as for household use, State government have provided support to encourage Kumbhakars to produce terracotta items for their self employment. Various need based interventions were provided consisting of formation of SHGs, their capacity building, skill up gradation training, supply of improved equipments, providing bank linkage, infrastructure development, product designing & diversification and marketing assistance to participate in different exhibitions. Over last ten years, 46 potter’s villages in 20 districts involving 2360 artisans have been developed under the cluster development programme.

In a bid to produce market-oriented products, design development programmes engaging designers from inside and outside the State are conducted in clusters to create wide range of products. 13 such programmes have been organized with involvement of 367 artisans and 427 prototypes developed. About 15 terracotta craft persons have been deputed to National Institute of Designs, Ahmadabad for training to make varieties of market oriented products. Ten Craft persons of Rayagada were also deputed to Bankura (West Bengal) for participation in an interactive workshop for ten days.  

The Exhibition will remain open till October 22, 2014.