Kollam :

In a bid to promote straw art, the artists of Kerala State Institute of Design will design 14 showpieces and will display them at the Grand Kerala Shopping Festival (GKSF) scheduled to begin next month. The showpieces will be of historical and tourism icons of the 14 districts.

“The work on these showpieces will commence on December 1 and is expected to be completed by January 10. Each piece will be four feet long and 2.5 feet wide. They will be made by around 100 artists based at Anchalumoodu here who will be guided by 14 master craftsmen,” said K M Anil Muhammed, director, GKSF.

The major icons to be depicted are, Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple of Thiruvananthapuram, the 13 Arch Bridge at Aryankavu of Kollam, Padayani of Pathanamthitta, Nehru Trophy boat race of Alappuzha, arch dam of Idukki, a scene from Thekkady for Kottayam, the Cochin Shipyard from Ernakulam, Thrissur Pooram, paddy fields of Palakkad, Duffmuttu of Malappuram, Kalaripayattu of Kannur, for Kozhikode will be an image of M T Vasudevan Nair, Edakkal caves for Wayanad and the Maliq Dinar mosque for Kasargod.

The organisers said that the artists engaged in the work would be presented with certificates and a bonus and added that once the showpieces were displayed they would be auctioned.

The money gained this way will be used for a social cause, most preferably for palliative care initiatives in the district, said Anil Mohammad.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Kerala / by Express News Service / November 24th, 2014