The Management Studies department of St. Joseph University (SJU), in collaboration with the Ministry of Textiles, government of India, organised a two-day craft awareness programme on March 6 and 7 at its seminar hall with six expert resource persons.
An update from SJU stated that T Rollee Vareishim, senior assistant director (H) of HSC-Kohima, chaired the two-day event. He has emphasised on the importance of culture and its preservation in the modern era and pointed out that traditional Indian crafts required finished goods that are of high quality, durable, useful, and appealing designs.
The vice chancellor of SJU and chief guest, Dr. D Gnanadurai, urged the student communities to make use of resources that are readily available locally such as recyclable bamboo spoons, plates, cups and other items as well as to preserve locally made goods and their creative potential to boost the economy.
The registrar of SJU and guest of honour, Dr. K Sethupathy, also spoke about the value of Indian crafts and to preserve them with the help of student communities.
The six resource persons were Temjienlemla Jamir, managing director of Nagaland Women Vocational Training Institute (NWVTI), Dimapur; Vilekhoto Pusa, empanelled designer of DC Handicrafts (NER); James Lotha, national merit certificate (NMC); Aku Zeliang, founder of Urra Designs and creative director of Cane Concept; Gihukali Chishi, technical in-charge of patent information centre at Nagaland Science and Technology Council (NASTEC); and Dr. Mayonmi Shimray, director in-charge of IGNOU, Kohima.
It stated that Temjienlemla Jamir spoke on ‘e-commerce of handicrafts in marketing,’ while Vilekhoto Pusa spoke on ‘Importance of handicrafts design for marketing,’ James Lotha spoke on ‘Wood crafts making and marketing prospects,’ Aku Zeliang spoke on ‘Handicrafts exports,’ Gihukali Chishi spoke on ‘GI registration for handicrafts artisans,’ and Dr. Mayonmi Shimray spoke on ‘Indira Gandhi National Open University for handicraft artisans.
Besides the resource people, craft demonstrations were conducted by master craftsperson including Nzano, who displayed her hand embroidery work, which won her the state award.
Report further stated that display of hand-crafted jewellery, home décors, bags, cushion coverings, cane tattoo frames and the renowned Huh Tu chair of Cane Concept were other highlights of the two-day event.