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This Bengaluru man creates art from trash, posters





 It started a few years ago when Raahul Khadaliya read an article about traditional block printers from Kutch, Gujarat, throwing their tools into the river.They were unable to keep up with the rising competition.Though the alternatives were cheaper, they didn't match the artisans' products in quality or detailing.






In a small attempt towards preserving ancient crafts and traditions while being responsible about the way we produce goods, Raahul started Studio ABCD in 2011, a design company which also provides services and solutions to clients.






"I realized that Indian clients were unwilling to invest too deeply into making the service sustainable as it inflates the cost of the project.That's when I started Second Life (a part of ABCD), so that I could create products and services that serve a dual purpose — achieving sustainability and generating money," he said.




While Raahul's products look like works of art on one side, turn them over and you see old newspapers, political posters, movie posters and the like on the other side.Apart from old newspapers, he also uses rubber tubes from scooters and trucks to make place holders, containers and a variety of products. The production is done from a room in his Indiranagar studio which employs four people — members of the same family. The room is a microcosm of the system that Raahul eventually hopes to recreate.






"In the next 3-4 years, I would like to employ 3,000 to 5,000 people. Right now, I want to keep pace with commercial machine-made products as my services have to be accessible. I don't want to sell products under a designer label," he said. Apart from the four people in his studio, Raahul also collaborates with a rehabilitation centre in Hubballi that trains and facilitates the gainful employment of handicapped people. They are the ones who do the block printing on newspapers, which can be used as wrapping paper, partitions or even framed in homes.





No recycling, only upcycling done here




Raahul doesn't use recycled products. Rather, Studio ABCD uses a method called upcycling, wherein waste material is used to create new items. "Lots of energy and resources are spent in converting the waste into a recycled form," he said.







Source:TimesOfIndia
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