28 August,2011 09:52 AM IST | | Amrita Bose
A brand launched by a JJ School of Arts alumnus retails hand-made papier-mache containers etched with henna patterns of buses and taxis
Racing taxis, a trundling BEST bus and the humble bicycle get a delicate makeover on the surface of papier-mache containers at matsya (fish in Sanskrit), a Mumbai-based three year-old brand that sells sustainable and eco-friendly products including Madhubani and Gond wall art, finger puppets, home furnishings and pottery.
Owner Neha Gandhi, a graduate of Sir JJ School of Arts collaborated with rural women artisans from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, who were familiar the papier-mache technique.
"I wanted to provide a strong and sustainable marketing platform for them through matsya," she says.
Gandhi shared contemporary design ideas with the artisan group and got them to etch out an entire transport series featuring buses, auto rickshaws, taxis and bicycles, using henna pasted filled in cones, piped onto a papier-mache surface.
The containers have utility value and can be used to hold stationary on your office desk, or carry your trinkets. They are also perfect stand-alone decor pieces that can perk up the shelf on your living room. The patterns you see on the containers are also available as papier-mache wall art. Matsya also partners with women from Kutch and other non-profit organisations across the country for the creation of its products.u00a0
Log on to: www.matsyacrafts.com
Priced at: For Rs 310 each.
Matsya also organises regular exhibitions. Look up their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/73047122098/
