Indian steal show at Santa Fe Folk Art Festival

New Delhi, July 9 (UNI) The famous Bagh print of Madhya Pradesh, the Lambani stitches of Karnataka and the traditional palm leaf 'kottans' of Tamil Nadu have enchanted visitors at the Sante Fe international folk art market in the US, the Craft Council of India has said.

Three award-winning artisans from India have displayed their works at the Artisans for UNESCO Seal of Excellence Booth at the market.

The artisans - Mohammed Yusuf (Madhya Pradesh), Kallahalli Shanthibai (Karnataka) and Manimegalai Manickam (Tamil Nadu) - are among eight crafts people from the country participating in the two-day market that began yesterday.

Among the artisans are Jaidev Baghel (Dhokra, Bastar), Gurupada Chitrakar (Scroll Painter, West Bengal) and Bina Dey (Kantha, West Bengal).

According to the Craft Council, the market is a ''great opportunity'' for the master crafts people to participate in the ''unparalleled'' global gathering of the world's finest folk artists.

''While most international trade programmes are geared towards commerce, this is the only show whose mission has been to create sustainability for folk art and folk artists worldwide,'' said a Craft Council official.

A buer-seller trade show is also part of the folk art festival at Santa Fe, New Mexico, which is attended by about 20,000 artisans from around the world.

The market this year features work from 34 countries including Bhutanese textiles, traditional South African beadwork, Brazilian woodblock prints, Chinese kites, Mali jewellery and Mexican lead-free pottery.

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