Wearing Konkan on your skin

Growing up in Mumbai Anuja and Varun Pitre spent their summers in the Konkan The Pitresrsquo ancestral land housed a cosy bungalow near Devrukh in Ratnagiri district Anuja talks fondly of her childhood the nature trails she went on the family home packed with almost 100 people at times and her curiosity about Konkanrsquos biodiversityThe regionrsquos landscape lush endemic flora and Devrukhrsquos love for art have all contributed to the launch of Itheacute Meaning lsquoherersquo in Marathi Itheacute offers handsculpted ceramic jewellery that draws from the endemic flora of the region But why focus on the coast ldquoThis area according to us is a bit underrepresented in the lifestyle space So we wanted to add to that storytellingrdquo says AnujaAsk them how Itheacute came to be and they credit their familyrsquos legacy in Devrukh The duorsquos mother Bharati Pitre is a wellknown papiermacirccheacute sculpturist who now works out of her studio in Pune Bharati says she draws inspiration from her surroundings any time she sits down to create So naturally some Konkan elements get into the mix But Bharatirsquos ties with her habitat grew stronger when her fatherinlaw set up the Devrukh College of Art and Design DeCAD a college for fine arts affiliated with Mumbai UniversityAt the moment the launch collection features five endemic species of flowers It features Konkan Dipcadi Habeacute Kilvar Neelpushpi and SurangiBharati was called in to offer design direction to the students whom she encouraged to look and create from their surroundings ldquoBesides growing rice and mangoes there was no other source of income for people in this belt So people moved to citiesrdquo she says ldquoThatrsquos when my fatherinlaw thought of setting up a fine art college because therersquos a lot of talent here Almost every house runs a small cottage industry making Ganpati idols and their hand skills are fabulous Itrsquos in their DNArdquoTo offer the younger generation a chance to stick around to make an income a small studio was attached to the college campus for students to explore different artistic mediums ldquoArtists can come here to do their own work or they can make products for us and be paid We also are trying to employ as many women as we can because that gives them a second incomerdquo adds BharatiShe first launched OleeMaatee in 2018 with the local artists and by 2021 the Pitres turned it into a commercial home decor brand that offers clay products all made at the studio in Devrukh Konkani artists create terracotta tableware and other home items for commercial use and cater largely to B2B clients You will see collections inspired by the hues of the Sahayadri range Konkanrsquos streets food and fruit and even flora and fauna Think paperweights and fridge magnetsportraying a sack of lasoon or kanda a Kingfisher perched on a bowl toothpick holders with Konkan berries collectables of Konkani cottage homes and moreBharati Pitre Anuja Pitre and Varun PitreThe ethos of OleeMaatee which Anuja and Varun contribute to is carried forward at Itheacute Anuja works with porcelain and is turning her curiosity about floraand fauna into earrings necklaces bracelets and other adornments At the moment the launch collection features five endemic species of flowersmdashDipcadi Habeacute Kilvar Neelpushpi and Surangi Besides being found only in this belt each flower has a backstory thatrsquos more unique than the next But why such a niche focus ldquoIt felt like a good opportunityrdquo says Anuja ldquoThere has been this trend to sort of flatten the perception of India because it has been easier for people outside to swallow that Now we are celebrating microregions and I think the audience too is ready for a more complex narrativerdquoAnuja adds that each piece is handsculpted and not handcrafted because you can only mould each petal by hand Therersquos a lot of attention to detail and the Konkani artists in the Devrukh studio contribute towards thisBeyond the regional narrative the Pitres also ensure that local artists get their dueldquoThe other side of Itheacute is to create sculptural art which can enable these artists to uplift themselves creatively and in terms of skill Then they can command a far far better remuneration for the work they do and be proud of what they doIt is our sincere attempt to create a cluster of extremely skilled craftsmen in that localityrdquo concludes Varun