At Amish Furniture Gallery’s new 16,000 square foot store in Batavia, store manager Brian Zerm told me there are 61 different styles of tables on display. One in particular caught my eye: a tabletop of cherry wood with hickory log legs. The matching chairs had cherry wood seats and hickory log chair backs and legs. It was gorgeous, rustic, and heavy. “Here, lift one. See how it dents the carpet,” said Zerm.

“People are surprised when they come into the store for the first time,” said Zerm. “Many people think we have only rustic and country. But we have Shaker, Mission, Arts/crafts and contemporary styling as well. People tell me they’ve been looking for a dining room set for two years. They come in here and find two or three right off. For just a little more than something made in China, people can have heirloom quality. It’ll last forever.” Read more »

The Indonesian Ecolabeling Agency (LEI) has set up cooperation with several other institutions to provide the furniture market with products and handicrafts made from wood taken from ecolabeled forests, a spokesman said.

Therefore, LEI as well as people`s forest management groups in Wonogiri district in Central Java and Gunungkidul district in Yogyakarta which already have ecolabel certificates along with the Indonesian Furniture and Handicraft Industry Association (Asmindo) had agreed to provide the furniture market with ecolabeled furniture and handicraft products, LEI`s communication manager Indra Setiawan said here Tuesday.

“Many furniture and handicraft industries keep on asking for products made from wood taken from forests which have obtained ecolabel certificates from LEI,” he said. Read more »

Siyaha has extended a grant of $78,869 to the Jordan Handicraft Producers Association (JHPA) in a bid to develop the sector and improve the quality of merchandise.

The USAID-funded grant will also support training workshops to develop handicraft skills and products to meet the needs of the tourism sector. It will also fund the launching of a national handicraft awareness campaign to encourage tourists and visitors to purchase genuine handicrafts.

The grant was officially awarded at a ceremony held this week at Wild Jordan in the presence of Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Osama Dabbas and Minister of Culture Adel Tweisi. Read more »

The exports of handicrafts from the state has shown a declining trend in spite of the fact that the region is rich in rural handicrafts.

Exports in the year 2005-06 were worth Rs 301.3 crore only, whereas, national exports were worth Rs 14, 526.85 crore during the same period.

The state has not been able to keep pace with the increase in exports at the national level.

Handicraft exports at the national level had almost doubled from Rs 83,430 crores in 2002-03, whereas exports from West Bengal has marginally increased from Rs 226 crores in the same year.

P K Agarwal, Principal Secretary of Land and Land Reforms, gave these figures at a seminar titled “Entrepreneurship development for rural artisans in the field of Indian Handicrafts”. The seminar was organised by the Eastern Chamber of Commerce. Read more »

Thailand and Bhutan have expressed interest to import bamboo and cane handicraft products from Tripura and business delegations from the two countries will visit the state next week discuss the issue.

Two business concerns from Thailand and Bhutan had expressed interest in buying the handicraft items after seeing the products at the Industrial Fair in Delhi last year, official sources said.

The two countries had also expressed interest to establish long term business relations with the state. Read more »

THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is set to give exposure again to Mindanao’s best products by holding in General Santos City an island-wide trade fair.

Ibrahim K. Guiamadel, DTI-Central Mindanao regional director, said the agency is coordinating with the City Government and the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Council for the staging of the “Yamang Mindanao” 2007 edition.

Yamang Mindanao, which loosely translates to “riches of Mindanao,” was initially launched last year and earned nearly P40 million in cash and booked sales for the 128 food and handicraft producers who took part in the event.

Guimadel said they hope to replicate last year’s success where some 29 institutional buyers from Europe, United States, Manila and Cebu came in to scout for suppliers. Read more »

A group of artisans in Gujarat have earned name and fame for the handicraft novelties made of bamboo.

These bamboo artisans make intricately designed bamboo handicraft items like photo frames, miniature ships, wall hangings and chariots.

The bamboo is split into thin strips which are later coloured and used with other decorative material to craft beautiful items.

The group’s most liked creations are the ones that showcase little bamboo ships put inside glass bottles.

This handicraft unit started with Anthony Joseph, an artisan from Porbander, who mastered the special art of making decorative items from bamboo. He was earlier employed with a Mumbai film Studio where he learnt how to place various things into bottles.

Later, he decided to settle down at his native place, Porbander and started it all as a venture. Read more »

The Tokushima Handicraft Association of Japan has chosen Malta to hold an exhibition of traditional handicrafts to celebrate its 35th anniversary of its foundation.

During their visit to Malta members of the association will organise an exhibition as well as provide demonstrations of their skills in the production of Japanese traditional textile crafts.

The fine art involved in the production of traditional Japanese textile handicrafts, as well as the participation in a tea ceremony during one of the many presentations that the association will be holding, should be appreciated by visitors. Read more »

The members of Banglacraft, involved in handicraft exporting, have urged the government as well as concerned authorities to take necessary steps for finding out alternatives to resolve their packaging material crisis, said a press release.

The release said, as a packaging material polythene bag is very essential for handicraft exporting. But due to restriction, imposed by government on manufacturing and marketing of polythene, exporting of handicrafts is in acute crisis.

The BGMEA members and other big exporters of the country have the opportunity to import their packaging materials by back-to-back L/C. Read more »

Housing and Common Amenities Minister Ferial Ashraff ceremonially opened the handicraft exhibition centre “Beyond the Tsunami” at Bandaranaike International Airport recently. The handicrafts made by the tsunami victims will be displayed at the Centre.

The Housing and Common Amenities Ministry and the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) jointly established this exhibition centre.

The main raw materials for the products are naturally found coconut fibber, water-hyacinth and fish bones.

Considering the well-being of the tsunami affected people in the North-East, JICA’S Recovery, Rehabilitation and Development Project for Tsunami Affected Areas in the Northern and Eastern Region (RRDP-NE) has carried out several development projects in these ares to rehabilitate and promote the living standards of the tsunami affected people in these areas. Read more »