Sahapedia’s Annual Vintage Sari Sale to Contribute to Kerala CM’s Distress Relief Fund

NEW DELHI:
Joining the list of philanthropists, corporates and civil society organisations, Sahapedia, the digital encyclopaedia of Indian art, culture and heritage, will be donating proceeds from its annual Vintage Sari Sale to Kerala Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF).
More than 200 saris—representing some of India’s finest handloom textiles—will be available for sale at Sahapedia’s New Delhi office on September 14, from 5 pm to 7 pm.
“The Sahapedia Vintage Sari Sale is a popular event, not only for the buyers but also as a platform to maintain visibility of India’s handloom industry in the urban context. The sale gets saris back into circulation and makeshand-woven saris affordable for more women. Plus, its a way of fostering a community of enthusiasts who are interested in Indian textiles, which is also one of Sahapedia’s areas of focus,” said Neha Paliwal, Director of Projects, Sahapedia.
Now in its third year, the sari sale is part of Sahapedia’s primary objectiveto make India’s vast cultural heritage more accessible to the common people, with a multimedia component devoted to India’s rich textile traditions on their website.
Art connoisseurs and other donors have contributed their much-loved handloom saristo the sale, where most saris will be priced between INR 200 and 800. The highlight of the evening will be an auction of a few exceptional saris, through which it is hoped that even higher donations for Kerala’s CMRDF will be raised.
Comprising saris that originally cost anywhere between a few hundred to many thousands of rupees, the eclectic collection includes chanderis, ikats, tussars, and mangalgiris.
Since its inception in 2016, the event has found takers among college students, working women, retirees and art connoisseurs as well. From last year’s sale, receipts around INR 100,000 were donated to a textile enthusiast, who was developing a prototype device(with IIT-Delhi) to distinguish between handloom and powerloom saris. This year, in view of the unprecedented toll on lives and infrastructure in Kerala floods,the collected amount from the sale will be donated to CMDRF, to support the state government’s rehabilitation efforts.