Workshops in less-explored art and craft disciplines abound in Thiruvananthapuram

Explore a variety of art workshops in Thiruvananthapuram, from linocut prints to resin art, for all skill levels.

The small group is all ears as Amiya J Hisham takes them through making linocut prints, showing them some samples and introducing them to the ink, the tools and the technique. It is one of the many workshops at Bottega Art Studio at Sasthamangalam in Thiruvananthapuram, run by artists-designers Amiya and Gouthami MG. The space has had workshops on upcycling, zine making, analog collage, and Giacometti sculpture, among others ever since it opened in August.

Two days later, I am at GiftyS Craft Store, a few metres away from Bottega, where Gifty Bright, artist-cum-owner of the store, is teaching crochet to around 20 people, including school students and senior citizens. She has led over 20 workshops since GiftyS opened last year, covering airdry clay, macrame, jewellery making, string art, lippan art, mural painting, amigurumi, dreamcatcher making etc.

Learning an art or craft is no longer confined to painting, drawing or embroidery. Varied and exciting options are now available for the artistically inclined in Thiruvananthapuram. The trend is that the city is teeming with workshops on a wide range of art and crafts like never before.

While crochet continues to find takers, amigurumi and macrame are catching up. Dreamcatcher-making has found its fans, so have pottery, decoupage and Mandala art. Also on the list are lippan art, resin art, coffee painting, doll making, origami, traditional Indian painting styles etc. With Christmas a few weeks away, workshops on making Christmas decor and ornaments for the Christmas tree are being announced.

What has led to this surge in workshops is the presence of several enterprising artists who conduct classes either at their own art space or at rented venues such as The Whitepaper Creative, Premier, Casa Mi Amor etc. The fee at the workshops starts from ₹800 and can go up to ₹3,000 or more. The rate is inclusive of materials provided to the attendees.

These classes are, in a way, opportunities for the artists to create, learn and share their knowledge with art lovers. Gifty, who sells premium products such as dry flowers, handmade paper, premium wedding invites, luxury candles and other products under different brand names, says that she opened GiftyS (@giftys_thecraftstore) to sell DIY kits and raw materials. “But when those who came to shop kept asking me to hold workshops, I decided to start. The response has been encouraging, especially with people of all age groups coming in. We even do workshops for free when new products arrive at the store,” says Gifty.

Interest in macrame also is picking up, thanks to artists like Ganga Mini Panicker, an architect who runs Mini DIY Creative Studio (@minidiy_creativestudio). “During the lockdown I found that macrame was getting popular. I started focussing on it, began online classes and went offline once the lockdown was lifted. The art calls for a lot of patience and micro macrame, which is slightly difficult, is my current area of interest. You can create intricate designs with knots,” says Ganga.