A workshop that revives handmade craft traditions in Visakhapatnam

Coloured yarn balls, crochet hooks and careful fingers have taken over the morning rhythm this week inside the airy walls of Hawa Mahal in Visakhapatnam. More than 30 participants, school children and adults alike, are attending an ongoing crochet workshop led by Madhavi Suribhatla of Mahila Manovikas, a collective known for its ambitious community crochet projects and social outreach initiatives.

Organised jointly by the Crafts Council of Andhra Pradesh and INTACH Vizag, the five-day programme has turned a traditional needlecraft into a shared exercise in concentration, creativity and conversation. Participants are learning 11 foundational stitches along with techniques to create crochet squares, bottle covers, floral motifs and decorative pieces.

For many attending, crochet is an unfamiliar craft discovered through curiosity. For others, it revives memories of skills once practised within families but slowly edged out by machine-made alternatives and fast-paced routines. The workshop space reflects both experiences. Young participants count stitches with focus while older learners patiently untangle yarn and revisit hand movements they had not practised in years.

Madhavi believes crochet carries value beyond hobby learning. “The craft teaches patience, improves concentration and nurtures persistence, qualities that are increasingly necessary in everyday life,” she says. Through Mahila Manovikas, she has worked extensively on collective crochet projects that combine craft with social purpose.

“Our projects are always linked to utility and community,” she says. The group has previously created crochet caps for children, ponchos for school students and handmade squares distributed among elderly people. Their next undertaking is considerably larger in scale. In August, Mahila Manovikas plans to attempt a record-setting crochet flag bunting display under the Har Ghar Tiranga campaign.

The present record stands at 11.78 kilometres. The group is preparing nearly 50,000 handmade crochet flags to surpass it. Madhavi says the initiative is also intended as an alternative to disposable plastic flags that often end up discarded after national celebrations. “We want people to value handmade flags and preserve them,” she explains.

The crochet workshop marks the opening chapter of a wider summer initiative planned by the Crafts Council of Andhra Pradesh. Renuka Rani, chairperson of the organisation, says the intention is to familiarise younger generations with traditional art practices while presenting them in forms that remain relevant to contemporary lifestyles.

“The workshop is the beginning of a series of summer programmes planned by AP Crafts Council to introduce traditional arts and reinterpret them in contemporary styles,” she says.

As part of the larger Summer Craft Week, the council will organise workshops on Warli art, Gond painting, Madhubani painting, screen printing and handmade paper craft from May 18 to 22 at Gandhi Community Centre in Daspalla Hills. The sessions are designed for enthusiasts interested in practical, hands-on learning experiences rooted in Indian craft traditions.

(To register for Summer Craft Week by Crafts Council of Andhra Pradesh, contact 9866898934).