Kerala Arts and Crafts Village to celebrate Women’s Day

According to the officials, this is the first mega event being hosted at the village after its reopening.  
The Kerala Arts and Crafts Village emporium | Vincent Pulickal
The Kerala Arts and Crafts Village emporium | Vincent Pulickal

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As part of its effort to promote the Kerala Arts and Crafts Village at Kovalam into a gender-friendly destination, the authorities are gearing up to organise week-long women-oriented events - ‘Wow Women Week’- to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8. The programme will entertain art lovers and celebrate talented women.  Popular artists Sithara Krishnakumar, Sayonara Philip, Monisa Nayak, Pushpalatha and Arya Dayal will grace the event with their performances which would kick off at the Village on Monday.  

According to the officials, this is the first mega event being hosted at the village after its reopening.  “We aim to create a perfect eco-system to promote art and crafts. The Village should be an ideal and inclusive destination for everyone. In February, an event was conducted during Valentine’s Day aiming to promote gender equity.

Seventy per cent of the people working at the Village are women and we want to celebrate their presence on this occasion,” said Sreeprasad T U, chief operating officer (COO) of Kerala Arts and Crafts Village.  He said that event was planned after getting inspiration from the ‘Wow-Women of the World’ campaign in the US. “We will be organising this event every year. Next year we will scale up the event to a global level,” he added.   

The event, slated to conclude on March 14, will be held from 10am to 1 pm. “The public can take part in the events by paying an entry fee. Around 100 paid seats in the front row will be blocked. Additional fees will be collected for the same,” said Sreeprasad. Despite the dull tourism season, an average of around 100 people visits the Arts and Crafts Village every day. 

According to the organisers, a monthly turnover of Rs 31 lakh is required to run the place without incurring losses and organising such events is the only way to woo more visitors to the place.“The event will showcase musical events, painting events, shadow puppetry and traditional art forms. We are planning to organise smaller events during the morning hours. Around 50 female artists will be doing live paintings at the venue from 11am onwards. Visitors can get their faces painted,” he said. 

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