On March 28, the historic Luz House in Mylapore will wear a new look, thanks to the third edition of Urban Hands, a bazaar for handmade products.
According to the organisers, the bazaar with 29 stalls will display a wide range of items, including a collection of scrapbook products by Memoirs Papercraft, handcrafted jewellery by designer Divya of Sayuri, vegetarian quiches by Baker's Nook and traditional Madhubani folk art paintings by Latha Sunder Rajan.
The organisers, Shilpa Mitha and Vineetha Naval say they are leaving no stone unturned in making this year’s edition of the shopping festival more attractive than its previous two editions.
“I had visited Kitsch Mandi in Banglore and wondered if something like this would work in Chennai. I came back, discussed the idea with Vineetha. There are many individual artistes here whose work deserve attention and we wanted to create a platform for them,” says Shilpa, who then started a Facebook Page called Chennai Crafters, which attracted hundreds of followers in no time.
“We planned two events every year. We had our last bazaar at Forum Vijaya Mall and after a year’s break, we are back,” says Shilpa, an engineer by profession, who now specialises in making miniature food items.
Her partner Vineetha, an architect, runs The White Box, which offers handmade, creative products, most of which are made from eco-friendly materials.
Urban hands also provides a space for the creatively-minded living abroad. For instance, Priya Shailesh, who makes hair accessories in Toronto, will have her products on display at Urban Hands. Her sister, a resident of Velachery, will market and sell the products.
“My sister has three kids and she started designing hair accessories for them. She realised she was good at it and started making it at home. We sell tiaras, bows, clips and headbands, among other things,” says Preethi.
