Tufting new beginning: Of turning artworks into carpets

Bengaluru, Dec 12 (PTI) Nine-year-old Keerthana Nadella is guided to the stage by her mother to receive her prize from tennis star Sania Mirza. Hers was one of the 17 artworks selected to be made into tufted carpet wall pieces.

But unlike most nine-year-olds, Keerthana lets out a deafening whoop when she is awarded the plaque, her grin splitting her face wide open and starts babbling. Her mother shepherds her back to her seat, profusely apologising to Mirza.

Keerthana, a special needs student, her mother Lakshmi Nadella told PTI later, often has trouble controlling her emotions and actions. But art and music, added her mother, are giving her an outlet to channel that unbridled energy into something constructive.

On December 11 evening, Mirza made a quick dash to Bengaluru to unveil the 17 carpet wall art pieces and hand over plaques to the winners.

A project started by Bengaluru-based Carpet King, 'Art from Heart' had children on the autism spectrum participate in an art competition in March.

Carpert King is a flagship store for carpets and rugs started in 1998 with branches in Chennai and Hyderabad.

The students of Sangamitra, a school for children with all kinds of developmental disabilities, and Academy for Severe Handicaps and Autism (ASHA) participated in the competition, said Akmal Jan, founder of Carpet King.

"We chose 17 artworks and transformed them into exclusive carpet wall pieces," he added.

Jan admitted that when he proposed the 'Art from Heart' idea, it was more of a business strategy. "We had to do something to stay relevant and to beat the immense competition," said Jan.

Most of his competitors, Jan said, were hiring designers ever since the tufting gun made it possible to literally draw complex designs with yarn. A handheld tufting gun gives more flexibility to weavers by letting them 'punch' the design directly on the canvas, he added.

Jan points to the black-and-white portrait of Kannada film heartthrob, Puneeth Rajkumar hanging on the wall, done using a tufting gun, to show what was possible when technology meets skill.

Incidentally, Mirza too was given a wall carpet portrait of her with her son, earlier in the evening.

"I wanted to do something different to stand out, though. That's how 'Art from Heart' came about," said Jan.

But he was not prepared for what followed next, said Jan.

"The entire experience was so humbling. I realised only when we were holding the competition the extent that parents can go to bring happiness to their children," said Jan.

As if on cue, eight-year-old Rithvik rushes into the room, giggling. His father Rajeev Shetty, visibly tired, chases him down, trying to get him to sit down in one place. An almost impossible task given how excited his son was to see his artwork hanging on the wall.

Shetty had a similar story as Lakshmi. When he and his wife realised that their son needed special attention when he was about two years old, they knew one of them had to sacrifice their career and stay at home, to look after the kid.

"My wife chose to stay at home because my job at Tata Consultancy Services was fetching us more money," added Shetty.

Lakshmi, too, said she had to give up her job to look after Keerthana.

Keerthana and Rithvik were the only ones who made it for the event. The other parents chose not to bring the winners - ages ranging from 6 to 25 years old - as being in the crowd is quite stressful for people on the Autism spectrum.

Earlier, while giving her keynote speech, Mirza too acknowledged the sacrifices parents make for their children.

"I want to salute all of you. Being a parent is hard enough, but being a parent of a child with special needs is so much harder. As a mother, I understand this only too well. And all these artworks also show that every child is special in their own way," said Mirza.

Jan said what started as a strategy will now become Carpet King's legacy, which came into existence.

"We will be holding this competition every year from now on, giving opportunities to those that life has dealt a very bad card. For the coming year, we will soon be holding a competition among the inmates of an institution that takes care of abandoned senior citizens," said Jan.

The proceeds from the sale of the 17 carpet wall pieces, priced between Rs 5,000 and Rs 8,000, will be donated to Sangamitra, added Jan. PTI JR KH