National Tribal Crafts Mela Aadishilp, organised by Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Ltd. (TRIFED), was inaugurated by Jual Oram, Union Tribal Affairs Minister at Dilli Haat on November 5.
On this occasion, Union Tribal Affairs Minister, Jual Oram said, “These kinds of exhibitions provide our tribal artisans an important platform to showcase their talents through their products to urban India. TRIFED, through its 44 sales counter all over the country, is providing much needed marketing system for tribal products.”
The main objective of organising Aadishilp is to give tribal artisans an opportunity to showcase and sell their traditional art and craft works directly to the customers and get their feedback which would help them in having valuable design related and other inputs. It also provides them a platform for direct interface with art and craft lovers, share their talent with the urban elite and know the customers’ taste and preferences for adapting their product designs and creations accordingly. Commenting on the importance of encouraging tribal artisans of the country, he said, “Ministry of Tribal Affairs will provide more and more such platforms for tribal artisans so that they can sell their products directly to the consumer without middlemen”. He also urged media, NGOs and particularly urban youth to come forward to popularise the tribal products and bring the tribals into the main stream of the society.
TRIFED, which focuses on training for skill upgradation and capacity building of tribal artisans and minor forest produce gatherers, has been taking a number of promotional initiatives for marketing of tribal products. From a single sales outlet of TRIBES India in 1999 at 9, Mahadev Road, Delhi, it has established 34 outlets of its own and 10 Consignment outlets across the country. TRIFED has also initiated the concept of sourcing tribal products by organising Tribal Artisan Melas (TAMs) to identify new artisans and products from different regions/ states where tribal artisans are invited to display their products for selection and inclusion in the range of products marketed by TRIFED.
The exhibition, which will be open till November 11, will have hand crafted items, handloom products, dry flowers, cane and bamboo products, tribal jewellery, Dhokra craft, tribal weaves, embroidery, tribal paintings etc, showcased at the venue.