Jaipur, Feb 4 (IANS): At a time when the authors from across the world are narrating their distinguished tales in the ongoing Jaipur Literature Festival, the Pink City meanwhile is also speaking the story of exquisite artistry of stone artisans who have gathered in Jaipur from all across the country while participating in India StoneMart 2024 being organised at Jaipur Exhibition and Convention Centre (JECC), Sitapura in Jaipur.

These stone artisans are quite hopeful to get a boost in their business. At a few stalls, the stone artisans are giving live demonstrations of their art at Shilpgram.

Ajit Kumar Prasad, a stone artisan from Dehradun said that they make craft from the river stones using their imagination. He has displayed his art and visitors are making a beeline to buy his art.

He said the response has been encouraging and he expects a boost in his business. He informed that the river stones are picked from the river and no artificial colours are used on them. Varnish is applied to these stones that increases their sheen.

Similarly, Sunil Jangid from Jaipur said that he works on the concept Stone with Nature. He just does the artwork on rocks. He said that river stones, sea rocks, Congo rocks, Lava rocks are mainly used for making decorative planters along with making various artifacts through mosaic art with stone flakes.

Expressing gratitude to Centre for Development of Stones (CDOS), he said that lot of support was extended and he got a good response at Shilpgram. In this four-day exposition, he expects to get orders for the entire year.

Shabbeer, a stone artisan from Makrana, said that visitors and buyers have been praising his work and there has been a lot of enquiries and also he got a few orders.

Pawan Saini from Sikandra said that he has expertise in making carved light lamps and fountains from stones. His clientele is increasing in other cities of India and abroad because of putting his stall at Shilpgram, which was provided free of cost.

Pappulal Sharma from Shivdaspura makes idols of various gods and goddesses in marble and is into this business for the last 20 years. He said that business is going on fine and after the consecration ceremony of Lord Ram in Ayodhya, the business of idols has registered an increase. In the last three days, there has been good response at his stall at Shilpgram in India.

Sachin Dadheech from Amberi (Udaipur) has done MA in fine arts and has displayed his art at the Shilpgram.

There has been a good response and he got some booking along with buyers inquiries. He said such an event proves to be a boon for small stone artisans.

These craftsmen, while showing their creations, are hopeful that a large number of buyers will come and show great interest in their products. They expect to get a huge amount of orders and hope that the products displayed will also be sold.

They said that with more enquiries, more buyers will come and their craft will be accessible to the country as well as abroad.

Our stones bespeak the story of our artistry and we are confident that these stories will echo beyond borders credit our skills and hard work due to which our art will make a mark on the global map, said Saini.