Recycled Crafts

The methods and processes of handicrafts are so well established and rehearsed that nothing is ever wasted. Materials in the subcontinent are cycled and recycled – by fashioning new products to suit needs and tastes with left over or old materials. ‘Waste’ in the form of paper, rags, straw and palm are all transformed into objects of utility and decoration.

Examples of these are the transformation of torn and tattered sari into coiled and plaited rugs and wall-hangings, empty glass bottles into vases or a pen-holders, geometric and floral decorations made from empty cigarette packets, egg-shell converted into birds and dolls, painted pebbles, rag dolls, sculptural figures made with pistachio and pea-nut shells.