Despite the South Asian giant’s renowned arts and craft traditions of millennia, India cannot hold back its love for Sri Lankan handicrafts.
“Sri Lanka, like India has a tradition of handicrafts. The handicrafts in both our nations continue for millennia. Sri Lankan art creations are very popular with Indians” said High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Taranjit Singh Sandhu on September 12 in Colombo.
According to the Sri Lanka Export Development Board, export of crafts increased last year by 11% to US$ 61 million from 2016’s $56 million. The largest craft volumes were toys, ceramic ornaments and copper designs.
High Commissioner Sandhu was addressing the launch of Sri Lanka’s national Handicrafts Festival 2018 on September 12 at BMICH organised by the National Crafts Council (NCC) and joined by the Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen, Agricultural Minister Mahinda Amaraweera, Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce Buddika Pathirana, Chairperson of NCC Heshani Bogollagama and many other distinguished craftsmen from Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Malaysia.
NCC’s six-day long Shilpa Abhimani festival showcases 1418 designs (of Lankan craftsmen that won awards at Provincial levels) that will compete for Presidential Awards later.
“Sri Lanka, like India has a tradition of handicrafts. The handicrafts in both our nations continue for millennia. Cave Paintings in Sigiriya, Dambulla, and wood carvings in Lankathilaka Temple, speaks of exceptional skills of master-craftsmen of yesteryear. You will agree with me that the wooden masks have become synonymous with Brand Sri Lanka. The history of Indian handicrafts go back to almost 5,000 years,” said High Commissioner Sandhu, and added, “There are numerous handicrafts from Indus Valley civilisation in Indian handicrafts (sector) which have become popular. Each handicraft leaves a legacy.
The Surajkund International Crafts Festival in Faridabad (Haryana State) in India, is the country’s Minister Bathiudeen stressed of the achievements of NCC. “With the Japan based International Research Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region (IRCI) the government is now working on a project to revive traditional textiles and women’s handicrafts in North and Eastern Provinces.
We thank both UNESCO and IRCI for supporting us in this project which is expected to close in 2019. With the EDB the NCC will conduct a special workshop on exporting process for nearly 100 Master Craftsmen. “There are 26,000 Sri Lankan craftsmen. Training them and taking their crafts to the market are important activities. We expanded our training centres and now we have a total of 112 centres across the country” she said.
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