WCC tag gives rare chance for Kashmir craftsmen to trace their roots, enhance skills

• World Crafts Council (WCC) recently named Srinagar a World Craft City

Highlights:

• The World Crafts Council (WCC) named Srinagar a World Craft City, one of now four in India, and among 60 around the globe.
• WCC will hold a knowledge exchange programme for artisans from Kashmir with cities that influenced the craft aesthetic here centuries ago.
• Craft in Kashmir is not limited to pashmina shawls.
  • woodcarving, rug-making, and papier mâché clusters are other such crafts
• Kashmir, once a trading hub on the Silk Route, got cut off from Persia and Central Asia after the concretisation of borders post-1947.
• The WCC’s move to include Srinagar has opened up a rare window to trace the centuries-old craft influences in the region.
• The WCC plans to bring together artisans with similar culture and specialisation, so that they benefit from each other, both culturally and technically.
• According to the Department of Handicrafts, Srinagar is home to 20,822 craftsmen within the municipal limits of the city.
• The Directorate of Economics and Statistics suggested that the total production of handicraft-related goods in J&K stood at ₹2,650 crore in 2023.
• Jaipur, Mamallapuram, and Mysore are the other World Craft Cities in India. Internationally, Bukhara in Uzbekistan, Lalitpur in Nepal, Gualaceo in Ecuador, and La Bisbal d’Empordà, in Spain are some of the cities abroad.
• Five centuries ago, craftsmen from Iran travelled to Kashmir, bringing with them crafts such as zanjan, filigree, shiraz, chador, shab, and many more.
• According to an Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage-Kashmir (INTACH-Kashmir) report submitted to the WCC earlier this year, Srinagar, the summer capital of J&K, is one of the ancient cities of South Asia with a continuously recorded history of about 1,500 years.
• Located on the historic Shahra-e-Abresham (Silk Route) the city generated a wealth of ideas related to arts and crafts and facilitated exchange of activities in trade, cultural practices, and scientific knowledge.
• Historically, the city has a legacy as a trade-based land, whose products like shawls and carpets have been internationally recognised.
• The brand ‘Cashmere’ and the motif paisley are internationally recognized symbols of the city’s distinct artistic identity.
• This rich tradition survives today in the form of 10 different crafts, seven of which have received the unique Geographical Indication (GI) recognition.
• According to the INTACH report, the carpet history of Kashmir dates back to the period of the Sufi Saint and scholar, Sayyid Ali Hamdani of Persia who visited Srinagar in the late 14th century AD.

Prelims Takeaway

• Kashmiri craft