Craftsman Pankaj Kumar Sahu is busy giving finishing touches to the silver filigree mementos to be used as gifts for delegates at the men’s hockey world cup at a poorly lit room at Kafla.

The 48-year-old artist will make 275 hockey mementos of silver filigree locally known as tarakasi or the woven wire.

The state cooperative handicrafts corporation has given him the work order.

“It is a matter of pride that the international sports event is being used as a platform to promote the art involving silver filigree of Cuttack. This is an exquisite and intricate art form that represents Odisha’s culture, heritage and tradition,” Sahu said.

The mementos crafted out of tarkashi will be gifted to all the 16 participating teams, their support staff and officials, dignitaries, VIPs and celebrities, who will attend the sports meet.

A team of more than a dozen silver filigree artisans led by Sahu have been burning the midnight oil for more than a month now to prepare mementos from nearly 20kg of silver.

Sahu, who learnt the art from his father when he was a teenager, lost his left hand in an accident 20 years ago. But, his determination kept him committed to his work and he never looked back. At present, he is very excited as the work order had given him an inspiration to nurture his talent.

“ It is a new experience for my team. We delivered 175 mementos on November 3. The remaining100 will be delivered on November 20,” Sahu said.