Bihar women artisans step into entrepreneurship at Bengaluru’s MAATI showcase

For Ram Dulari Devi, Rubi Devi, Anjali Kumari and Priyanjali Kumari, Bengaluru is now more than a dot on the map. It is the city where their Mithila art moved beyond village walls and found a new audience — and where they began seeing themselves as entrepreneurs, not just artisans.

At MAATI – The Crafts School’s two-day showcase at SABHA on Kamaraj Road, visitors walked through stalls of hand-painted textiles, wall panels, table covers and home furnishings. The work carried the signature geometry, flora-fauna motifs and bold lines of Mithila painting, but was reimagined for contemporary homes.

MAATI, short for Mithila Artisan Transformative Initiative, is backed by TATA Trusts and works with women artisans from Madhubani and Darbhanga districts in Bihar. The programme goes beyond skill training in painting. It teaches product design, costing, packaging and marketing so artisans can build independent businesses.

The Bengaluru showcase was a test of that model. The four artists interacted directly with buyers, designers and art collectors, explained their process, and priced their own work — a first for many. “Earlier we only painted what was asked of us. Here we learned how to decide what to make, how much it should cost, and how to talk to a customer,” said one of the participating artisans.

The exhibition drew Bengaluru’s growing community of buyers who value handcrafted, story-driven décor. For MAATI, the goal is clear: shift women from wage-based craft work to ownership of their art and enterprise.

With demand for authentic, handmade home products rising in urban markets, the initiative is betting that Mithila’s 2,500-year-old art form can also create 21st-century livelihoods.