A Briton who showcased Bidri craft to the world

A tourist admiring a Bidri artefact in Chennai.File photo: M. Vedhan


Allauddin Behman Shah, the second King of Behmani Kingdom, is credited for introducing Bidri craft, a Middle Eastern art form, to Bidar in 15th Century. However, it had to wait till 300 years to become world famous.

Recent research has revealed that John Forbes Royle, doctor, botanist and chronicler of India’s folk wisdom, introduced the craft to the world in the 1851 Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace in London.

“East India Company nominated Dr. Royle, the pioneer of economic botany in India, to source exhibits from artisans. He was ideally suited to the job as he had travelled the length and breadth of India looking for unique plant species, and other materials of value,” says Rehaman Patel, artist and Bidri researcher. His book about Bidri art in Kannada is coming out this month. Karnatakada Bidri Kale (Bidri art of Karnataka) includes the history, and stages of evolution of the craft. It also looks at the present state of Bidri artisans.

Dr. Royle was keen that India should benefit from the exhibition. He wanted to help the artisans who produced articles of great beauty and value that were not well known outside their country. India’s artisans will be forever indebted to the Englishman,” Dr. Patel said.

The Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce that organised the exhibition, also featured images of the Bidri artisan hewing silver onto black metal surfaces. The artefacts were noticed by design theorist Owen John, who gave significant space to Bidri art in his ‘Grammar of Ornament’. He described it as an art, remarkable for its ‘elegance and outline’.

Such exposure encouraged the art. Bidri ware items were sold by Liberty and Company in London. The Colonial and Indian exhibition catalogue of 1886 called it an important industry with extensive demand, according to Dr. Patel.


Source:http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/a-briton-who-showcased-bidri-craft-to-the-world/article6568198.ece

Bidriware finds remunerative prices on the Internet

The Internet is doing to Bidri artisans what the governments or civil society organisations could not do all these years — provide remunerative prices to the centuries-old handicraft.

Most of the trade in Bidriware is through middlemen in Hyderabad or Mumbai. “They have never paid us well. The trader keeps most of the profits and the artisan is left with a pittance,” Mohammad Saleem, president of the Bidri youth mandal in Bidar, said. A middleman buys a flower pot for Rs. 200 from artisans. But it is sold in the range of Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 1,200 per piece in Hyderabad or Mumbai, he said.

State-run agencies, including the Union government’s Commissionerate for Handicrafts and the Karnataka State Handicrafts Development Corporation, have long been providing training and raw material at subsidised prices. The Cauvery handicrafts showroom in Bangalore routinely buys bidriware items from handicraftsmen. However, these organisations have not been able to provide them comfortable profit margins. Nor have they been able to help artisans when the price of silver or copper increases steadily or when the sale of bidriware slumps in the market.

Similarly, efforts at forming a federation or self-help groups of artisans have not been successful. The federation does little other than holding occasional meetings or imparting training to craftsmen. The self-help groups are yet to take off.

However, artisans have discovered a friend in e-commerce. Several websites are offering to sell bidriware at good prices. The biggest benefit is that there are no middlemen here. Websites carry details, including photographs of varieties and prices of the art pieces.

“When a demand is generated, their executives call us and ask us to prepare and supply the item. We send it by courier to the customer. Once the item is received, the company transfers money to our bank accounts,” Mr. Saleem said.

Last week, he sent office stationery items such as envelope openers and paper weights to Kerala and wall hangings to art lovers in Rajasthan. He said that the websites kept about 15-20 per cent of the selling price as their profits, compared to the 200-300 per cent profits pocketed by middlemen.

“Compared to our trade with middlemen, the number of pieces sold on websites is less. Therefore, the transaction volumes and resulting profits are less. However, there is a chance of growth and expansion of online trade,” says Imtiyaz Ali, who completed his graduation recently. His father, Ahmed Ali, is an artisan.

Apart from the government websites of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, Bidri art can be bought online from some popular private websites. They include bidrihandicraft.com, amazon.com, Christies.com, bonhams.com, snapdeal.com, mirraw.com, artsquare.in, fizdi.com, junglee.com, clickindia.com, redbag.in, artstoreindia.in, creativecraftz.co.in, kalamadhyam.org, craftsvilla.com, zaarga.com, rangiru.com, rediff.com and homeshop18.com.

They are also bought and sold on platforms such as ebay.in, quikr.com and tolmol.com that arrange meetings of buyers and sellers.

“We had thought this craft would die with us. But the online market has made us hopeful that our next generation will continue the tradition,” said Rashid Quadri, national award-winning Bidri artisan.

Source:http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/bidriware-finds-remunerative-prices-on-the-internet/article5061802.ece

World famous Bidar "Bidriware" dining table for Mallya

Vijay Mallya may be having problems with some of his companies, but it seems he believes in living life king size. Bidri artisans of Bidar are making a wall-mounted dining table, decked with silver all over, for the Mallya family.

National award-winning master craftsman Mohammad Rauf and his son Abdul Bari are working overnight to create a dining table with floral designs.

The table that looks like an ordinary table cut into half, has four legs. The straight end of the table would be fixed to a wall.



“Last month, some officials from the Kingfisher company came to Bidar looking for me. They wanted to see my designs. I made a free hand design and showed it to them. They liked it and asked me to deliver it within three weeks,” Mr. Rauf said.

“The officials had seen a table that I made earlier. Around 20 years ago, I designed a Bidri dining table, based on the picture of a wooden table from Iran. The table top was inlaid with mother-of-pearl pieces. I thought of doing the same with Bidri ware and produced an 18-inch table. We sold it to a collector in Mumbai. Someone from the company must have seen it and liked it,” he said.

He has not decided upon the price yet.

It depends upon the amount of silver that goes into it. Now we have used over 3.5 kg of silver. It should cost around Rs. 4 lakh, he said. As many as nine artisans are working on the table.

Rauf is a third generation Bidri artisan.

He is among the three master craftsmen identified by the Union Culture Ministry. He created a memento for the Commonwealth Games and the Union government’s souvenirs at the world economic forum in Davos.




source"http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/a-bidri-dining-table-for-mallya/article4420823.ece"

‘Bidri’, ‘Chidri’ Art Stall Steals Show at Mangalore Youth Festival

It’s not easy to master an art. It needs constant hard work and perseverance. Such an art was unveiled at the 17th National Youth Festival in the city on Sunday January 15.

The ‘Bidri’ artistes from Bidar and ‘Chidri’ youth clubs that belong to Uttar Karnataka Crafts and Cultural Development have exhibited their distinct Bidri and Chidri arts in their stall at the youth festival on Sunday.









Bidri art is a sensitive art that dates back six centuries and was mastered by Europeans. It’s a Persian art and was promoted by the Baridi and Bahumani Kingdoms in India. It’s a handicraft that needs perseverance to create masterpieces. The artists make key bunches, boxes, footwear, earthen pot, ashtrays, and numerous other items depending on customer’s need.

The artistes use zinc and copper to make the objects. They use 10 percent of copper and 90 percent of zinc and give a final touch with silver. The artifacts made are expensive. Bidri artifacts are sold at prices from Rs 30 to Rs 8 lac. The size of the artifact determines the time it takes to make. Therefore, it’s a sensitive art and the success of the artist depends on his hard work and focus on set job.

“It’s our profession since generations. We had created a huge pot with Bidri art that was presented to American president Barack Obama by Ratan Tata, when the former visted India recently. It cost Rs 8 lac,” says Ubaidulla, a Bidri artist from Bidar.

Chidri art is also a distinct art like Bidri art. It’s not an expensive art and is stronger than Bidri. The artifacts art made out of aluminum and coated with copper. It does not have art work and creativity like that of Bidri which is priced between Rs 10 to Rs 1,500.

Bidri Youth Club of Bidar is not only engaged in creating artifacts, it also provides employment to hundreds of youth. Their artwork is displayed in exhibitions held in Germany, UK, Australia, South Africa, USA, Mexico, and other countries. A mega exhibition will be held in China in March. A tableau based on Bidri art, which represented Karnataka at the Republic Day celebrations held in New Delhi on January 26, 2011, had bagged a prize.




Source:Daijiworld

Url: http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=127497

There is sweat and toil behind every BIDRIWARE

Exquisite:Shah Rasheed Ahmed Quadri working on a Bidriware at Shantiniketan School at Alevoor in Udupi.

Udupi: You simply cannot take your eyes off the exquisite engravings on the goblet, vase and other items made of Bidriware. Such is their mesmerising power.

The rhythmic sound of a hammer on a chisel while dedicatedly engraving designs on a Bidri vase is what attracts you to the master craftsman Shah Rasheed Ahmed Quadri, who is the creator of these beautiful items.

The basic material of Bidriware is an alloy of zinc and copper in the proportion of 16:1. It is on this alloy that artistic designs in pure silver are engraved.

The Birdriware undergoes an eight-stage process. The eight stages are moulding, smoothening by file, designing by chisels, engraving by chisel and hammer, pure silver inlaying, smoothening again, buffing and finally oxidising by soil and ammonium chloride.

The soil for the Bidriware is found in Bidar Fort and in buildings where neither sunlight nor rain has fallen for hundreds of years in the town of Bidar.

According to Mr. Quadri, the origin of Bidriware could be traced to 14th century. Sultan Ahmed Shah Wali Bahamani of the Bahami dynasty invited Abdullah bin Kaiser, a craftsman from Iran who was known for doing beautiful engraving work, for decorating his palaces and courts. Some local people then learnt this work, he said.

At present, there are 200 persons in Bidar who are well versed in producing Bidriware. Various items such as goblets, vases, wine decanters, hookahs, cardholders and multi-purpose boxes are produced in Bidriware metal. “It takes eight craftsmen and 15 days to produce a goblet,” Mr. Quadri says.

Producing items from Bidriware has been a family profession of Mr. Quadri. This profession has been passed on from one generation to another. “My brothers and two sons are in this profession. I even trained some outsiders, but they did not stick to it,” he says.

But the stoppage of subsidy of Rs. 16 lakh a year by the Karnataka Handicrafts Development Corporation had hit the craftsmen hard. “Many craftsmen are leaving the trade to work as electricians and plumbers. The Government should act fast and save this glorious metal handicraft otherwise it may become extinct,” Mr. Quadri says.

A recipient of several awards, Mr. Quadri gave a demonstration of Bidriware craft as part of the Karnataka tableau during the Republic Day parade at Rajpath in New Delhi on January 26, 2011.


Source: kemmannu
URL: http://www.kemmannu.com/index.php?action=highlights&type=619

The Karnataka tableau, depicting the exotic handicraft of Bidriware from Bidar region won the Second prize in in R-Day parade , New Delhi.

As I mentioned BidriWare was the highlight of Karnataka Tableu in RD parade in NewDelhi,  in my last post. 
Among the 23 tableaux showcasing their respective states and ministries, The Karnataka tableau, depicting the exotic handicraft of Bidriware from Bidar has bagged the coveted Second prize.
Congrats to all Bidarites

Source:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/IAF-bags-best-marching-contingent-award/articleshow/7391425.cms

BidriWare (Bidar) handcraft was the highlight of Karnataka tableau in R-Day parade , New delhi

Karnataka chose to display its Muslim artisans known for their Bidri work. The motif is named after its place of origin -- Bidar district -- and the art form had travelled from Persia in the 11th century during the time of Sultan Ahmed Shah. It fused with local art forms to give rise to a craft that is largely practised by Muslim artisans. CM B S Yeddyurappa told TOI, "We want to say the state is proud of its art and artisans, supports it workers, its poor, irrespective of their caste and community."
Source: Times of india
Url: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/R-Day-parade-NDA-states-floats-go-for-harmony-theme/articleshow/7368188.cms


From MSN: (http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4842306&page=3)
The exotic handicrafts from Bidar -- Bidriware -- was the highlight of Karnataka tableau showcasing the finest of the human workmanship.

The Royal Bidri Art is in the White House

 Did you know that a tea table created by Bidri artisans was presented to the former President of the U.S. Bill Clinton during his India visit in 1991?The legs of the table were handcrafted by artists in Bidar, while a glass top was fixed by a Hyderabad-based company. The tea table is still there in a museum in the White House


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Source: The Hindu
Url :http://www.hindu.com/yw/2010/11/23/stories/2010112350501200.htm

The XIX Commonwealth Games VIPs and dignitaries will carry home mementos hand crafted in Bidri art (BIDAR).

The XIX Commonwealth Games being held in Delhi next month have a Bidar connection. The VIPs and dignitaries visiting the games will carry home mementos hand crafted in Bidri art.
National award-winning Bidri artisan Mohammad Abdul Rauf and his son Mohammad Abdul Bari have crafted 850 mementos of two distinct designs for the games. “Every guest at the Delhi games will carry a piece of Bidar back with him,” Mr. Rauf says proudly.
The designs chosen by the Common Wealth Games Committee were that of an inflorescence and a pattern of lines emanating from the rising sun.
They were emailed to Mr. Rauf who prepared a master mould and sent it for approval.
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