SRINAGAR- In a major development, the J&K UT is participating as a theme region in the upcoming Surajkund Mela through the Directorate of Handicrafts & Handloom Kashmir.
The Surajkund Mela has been a big hit with respect to the handicrafts exhibition and this year the United Kingdom is joining as a Partner Nation for the event.
The Modalities for this upcoming event were discussed with the Surajkund Mela Authority and the Mela is scheduled to commence from 4th February, 2022. During the year 2020, this craft mela received a footfall of 13 lakh.
Participation in other exhibitions like HGH India 2021, ICE Delhi and Spring Fair, Gurgaon were also discussed and participation confirmed, in addition, Directorate of Handicrafts and Handloom Kashmir is also participating in DOMOTEX 2022, Hannover Germany.
The aim of such departmental interventions is to display and exhibit the handicrafts and handloom products of Jammu and Kashmir besides enabling the artisans to increase their market presence by bringing the exhibitors and visitors from all over the world to connect with them.
In addition to the above said scheduled events, the department will also hold exhibitions in the metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai. The objective of this exercise is to provide the marketing opportunities to the artisans and manufacturers to dispose their inventory which has piled up due to the COVID-19 pandemics.
In order to finalize the marketing opportunity for the artisans, a series of meetings were conducted by the Director Handicrafts and Handloom Kashmir with officials at Delhi. Exhibition space at Delhi Haat for the coming winter was booked with the Development Commissioner Handicrafts and Development Commissioner Handloom Delhi.
In order to deliberate upon the upcoming India International Trade Fair (IITF) scheduled from 14th November, 2021 at Pragati Maidan, detailed discussion was held with the Indian Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO), IITF happens to be a very important event with reference to handicrafts and this event could not take place last year because of the venue construction, now as the building has been completed and the ITPO venue is ready to host its 40th edition of IITF.
The department of Handicrafts & Handloom Kashmir is booking about 300 m2 space at the venue and is also hosting JK Evening during the event.
This 14-day exhibition is expected to receive a lot of footfall and it is expected that the artisans are able to market their products through this platform. This year the main focus of the event will be on the Geographical Indication (GI).