 There
are flowers that have emerged not from the soil, but from
the creative hands of artisans. Does this sound unbelievable
and interesting? Yes, they are none but 'Dry Flowers',
which resemble the real flowers in their natural beauty
and attraction. One can make out that they are not real
only after told by someone, or after close observation.
 Manufacturing
dry flowers is a traditional art form of Europe, which
is being practiced in our country for the past many decades.
Dry flowers are done with the material that we generally
throw out as waste. To complete a bouquet, the artist
will use anything that he finds is suitable to bring the
desired effect of a real flower. This art form, which
had struggled in the past, seems to have achieved its
old look and prominence now. Today, many artisans have
taken dry flower manufacturing as their profession and
are now strongly saying that it is the best way to earn
good money and recognition when compared to other art
forms. Realising this, the Government too is paying much
interest in the development of this art form.
 The
Department of Horticulture, and Agricultural
and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority
(APEDA) jointly organised an exhibition of dry flowers
in the Public Gardens, which concluded on March
20. "This is an income oriented art form that has a
good demand all over the world now. We want to expose
the greatness of dry flowers to the public and at the
same time we want to encourage the artisans through this
type of exhibitions," said T Sudhakar, Assistant
Director of APEDA.
 The
exhibition turned out to be a success and received great
applause from the flower lovers of Hyderabad, for being
a rare and unique show. "It is a memorable experience
for me to see the unique creative work," said
P Anand Mohan, an art lover. The exhibition offered
a platform for nine stalls from all the states in Indiaand artisans from each state tried their best to attract
the crowd. "We create these wonderful flowers only
by using waste and are not spending lakhs on it. If the
Government understands the need to support this art form
and comes forward, there is no doubt that we can create
ripples in this field," said V Suresh, owner
of S Vaidya &  Co
stall from Chennai. A Hyderabadi artist, Ajit
Verma, M.F.A, came out with paintings on Greeting
cards and displayed them in the exhibition. His works
received every one's appreciation. Amongst all, it was
Dr N Mangadevi from Guntur who really caught
the eye of the crowds with her boundless creativity. She
displayed outstanding works done with waste, which resembled
sculptures. "I'm in this field for the past many years
and I found a lot of difference in the way the public
is responding to this art form. There is now great awareness
in them," Mangadevi said. Apart from the exhibition,
a two-day workshop was also held on 'Dried Flowers' on
March 19 and 20.
Those who witnessed this exhibition, would certainly agree
that Dry Flower manufacturing is an exclusive art form,
a good profession and above all, income oriented.
 Photo
Feature |
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