City’s scorching heat might be the reason for the exhibition lacking customers
By Saloni Arora and SA Gayatri
Bengaluru, March 26, 2019
An art exhibition welcomed artisans and craftspeople from different corners of India. The nine days exhibition from March 22 to31 is witnessing crowd from various places outside Karnataka, as well as from Bengaluru.
“The SouQ” at Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath in Bengaluru was inaugurated by actress Jayashree Raj on March 22. Handicrafts, wooden toys, traditional mats are a few things displayed at the exhibition.
Weavers and artisans from Kashmir to Kanyakumari are present in the exhibition. K.K. Singh an artisan from Jaipur says, “The sales are very low compared to last year. We came all the way from Jaipur to sell products at half price but we are experiencing a low profit”. He also added this is due to the extremely hot weather in the city.
Sudhanshu Asthana from Bengaluru informed that the sales are comparatively low and the rent of the stall is increased from 10,000 to 15,000 rupees. I sell soaps and I am not able to pull up much in order to pay the rent.
“Sometimes I am able to sell my items at 1,000 rupees and sometimes the sale goes up to 10,000 rupees. It all depends on season and luck. I am from Ananthapur, Andhra Pradesh. I make lamps from leather. The sale is very low this time and people are not turning up due to extreme heat”, says Vishwanath, a weaver.
“My friend and I are visiting this exhibition for the first time. We hail from Delhi, we were expecting exclusive art and handicrafts at a discounted price but we found everything very costly. Also, we can buy the same stuff online possibly at a cheaper price”, says Radhika Sharma.
