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Craft Bazaar in Bharat Mandapam: G20 Summit: Padma Shri awardee Lajwanti showcases phulkari
Patiala-based phulkari artist and Padma Shri awardee Lajwanti showcased embroidery products at Craft Bazaar in Bharat Mandapam International Exhibition and Convention Centre unveiled at the G20 Summit on Saturday.
Patiala-based phulkari artist and Padma Shri awardee Lajwanti showcased embroidery products at Craft Bazaar in Bharat Mandapam International Exhibition and Convention Centre unveiled at the G20 Summit on Saturday.
She was awarded Padma Shri in the year 2021 for making ‘phulkari’, recognized globally. She showcased phulkari embroidery on various clothes at the G20 art and craft exhibition exemplifying “vocal for local and local to global”.
“When I was 6 years old, my grandmother used to make these designs. We used to watch her. I developed an interest in it and gained expertise. Now, I go to villages and encourage women to work in order to move forward and they can also earn some money. I got my first national award in 1993. This tradition (Phulkari embroidery) was dead in Punjab. I have worked hard to revive it. I have met the prime minister multiple times, and he asks me how I’m always working on this. I said that I don’t want this art to be extinct,” she said.
Lajwanti further said that she taught women in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Uttarakhand.
“Soon, we will open a training centre in Patiala for the children who are recovering drug addicts. They will learn something and the government will also give them money for their work,” she added.
Lajwanti hails from Tripuri town in Patiala and in addition to getting the Phulkari art recognized, she has also taught the art of Phulkari to thousands of women across the globe.
The exhibition showcases Indian textiles, decorative items, and artefacts. This exhibition delves into India’s rich cultural heritage, ethos, and interconnectedness, tracing its cultural wonders through archaeological artefacts, literature, numismatics, epigraphy, and paintings.
