Marine weeds, considered an ecological hazard in Kerala, turn into valuable raw material when NID designers and local craftsmen working with Inheritance India come together. Here's where you can shop for fragrant pumice stones made from khus plants and ladles made from coconut shells and bamboo
Marine weeds, considered an ecological hazard in Kerala, turn into valuable raw material when NID designers and local craftsmen working with Inheritance India come together. Here's where you can shop for fragrant pumice stones made from khus plants and ladles made from coconut shells and bambooDocumentary filmmaker Lygia Matthew was shooting the tradition of snake boat racing in Kerala when she encountered locals who survived on the brink of poverty despite skills to fashion breathtaking items from cane and bamboo. She didn't want to stop at making a film. Along with four partners, including a naturalist couple who ran a wildlife camp, a professional with the hospitality industry and a financial planner, she set up Inheritance India in 2002.
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The Inheritance India range. pics/rane ashish and sayed sameer abedi |
They first bought an abandoned coffee plantation in Kerala to retail organically-grown coffee in Mumbai and Pune. With help from two designers from Ahmedabad's National Institute of Design, local craftsmen were trained in making modern lifestyle items using traditional techniques and raw materials, like lantana and water hyacinth.
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These weeds that thrive in tropical rain forests and end up choking water bodies and ruining marine life, were often poisoned. Inheritance India decided to use these sturdy plants to fashion handbags, mats and lamps, using organic colours obtained from pomegranate and walnuts.
Their range includes water hyacinth hammocks and rugs, furniture and trays made from bamboo and banana plant cushion covers, file covers, pencil boxes and bags. The fragrant khus plant is used as a scrubber or pumice. It takes anywhere from two weeks to a month to create a product, often involving a bunch of teams that work on chopping and drying the weeds on river banks, weaving and plaiting them before moulding them into rugs, mats and lamps.
Next on their agenda is to work with architects to decorate homes and offices, which will help them pay the craftsmen higher wages.
Background on Inheritance IndiaInheritance India invests in areas that have the potential for eco-tourism. They own 50 acres of land surrounded by mountains, rivers and waterfalls and take groups of 10-15 people at a time to provide them a special experience of the forest with guided heritage and wildlife tours, bird-watching sessions and treks. They are developing home-stay facilities where people can live amid nature and work there via Internet. A nature-based wellness spa is also on the anvil. All their activities engage the local community, use local natural materials and forest waste.
At: Inheritance India Land Conservation Company Private Limited, 4, Shakti, 521 Adenwalla Road, Five Gardens, Matunga (E).
Call: 30901718 / 24145225. Also retails at Red, Blue Yellow store at Lower Parel.
Range:u00a0 Rs 200 to Rs 3,500
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