Eco Park gets jazzed up for Biswa Bangla Haat

KOLKATA: On January 7 rural artisans and craftsmen will have their pride of place at Eco Park in New Town with the inauguration of ‘Biswa Bangla Haat’. Spread across 4.5 acres, the artisans will have permanent stalls and platforms to showcase their products on rotation basis. They will also be able to demonstrate how their products are made as prospective customers watch.
Government College of Art and Craft students are busy wall-painting under the supervision of their officer-in-charge Chandan Das.
“This is an urban ‘haat’ — the left side of the park is for artisans and the right is a designer’s enclave. The uniqueness of the haat lies in the fact that artisans will be able to demonstrate how their products are made. So a ‘taant’ maker will show how he is making the material. An open furnace has been created where ‘dokra’ and terracotta will be prepared,” said Partho Kar, Biswa Bangla chief consultant.
The ‘Tree of Inspiration’ at the entrance is an illuminated globe with faces of Bengal’s icons, like Rabindranath Tagore and Satyajit Ray.
The haat will have 150 artisans selling their wares. There will also be nine urban designer stores and 25 others.
“The theme of the haat is transport, so we have dinghy boats, one hand-drawn rickshaw and even a horse cart reflecting the early 20th century,” said Kar.
“Fairs come and go but this is a permanent platform for us. We will not have to depend on mela organizers for a steady income,” beamed Arati Saha, a scroll painter.