Coir avatar of Mona Lisa!

Alappuzha (Kerala): A Mona Lisa wall hanging, measuring 60x90 cm, made out of coir is the cynosure of all eyes at the ongoing Coir Kerala 2013 event being held here.

Designed and developed by a local company, Fiber World, the replication of Mona Lisa on a coir mat tries to retain most of the charm and grandeur of the original painting -- the sensuous curves of the woman`s hair, the indefinable smile lingering on her face and the different colours. "The idea for Mona Lisa on coir came from a Brazilian customer who suggested that coir, which has been mostly used for making doormats, could be innovatively used for wall hangings. Thus germinated the idea of coir from doormat to wall hanging," said Roby Francis of Fiber World Monday at Coir Kerala 2013, the global expo into its third edition. Thirteen colours were used in the Mona Lisa wall hanging, which is priced at $9.75 (around Rs.520). Earlier, the same firm had made a coir wall hanging featuring celebrated Hollywood actress Marilyn Monroe, using 16 colours. "Commercially, the Monroe product has been a successful venture. We expect the same response for Mona Lisa wall hangings also," added Francis. Sudheesh, a designer with the company, gave an insight into the making of the Mona Lisa wall hanging. "We copy the original picture by putting it on a stencil plate. It is then fixed on a PVC coir mat. We make separate plates for all the 13 colours used in this particular wall hanging. Finally, it is put in a rubber frame with wood finishing," said Sudheesh. IANS