Three Day 14th Sartyoon Sang Crafts Exhibition concludes in Karachi
Irfan Ali
Sindhi handicrafts made by rural women were exhibited in
ocean Mall
All aspects of the Sindhi culture could be witnessed at a
crafts exhibition, '14th Sartyoon Sang', held in the city over the weekend.
In an exquisite display of traditional crafts at the Ocean
Mall in Clifton, a wide mixture of Sindh's handicrafts made by 6,005 rural
women artisans were exhibited, over 5,729 products including home textiles,
baskets, jewellery, dresses, dupattas and shawls, embellished with traditional
embroidery and cutwork.
The event was Sindh Rural Support Organisation's (SRSO)
efforts to provide market links to rural women and artisans. The festival
attracted large numbers of women residents of Clifton, Defence Housing
Authority, Bath Island and nearby areas. It concluded on Sunday.
In the last day, ex Provincial Minister, Syed Nasir Hussain
Shah visited the exhibition
Speaking of the occasion, he said that We need to be very
practical in understanding the issues of women on the ground and should solve
them in ways that will bring about change, adding that platforms like the
exhibition helped indigenous artisans bring their products into the limelight.
He further said that e-commerce was also linking the artisans of Sindh to the
rest of the world.
He said that it is the government's responsibility to not let
the work of these artisans die and to appreciate the laborious work needed to
create their handicrafts, while appreciating the SRSO's endeavours to promote
the crafts of some of the most marginalised women in Sindh.
SRSO Chief Executive Officer Muhammad Dital Kalhoro said the
event's objective was to facilitate better income for women artisans of rural
Sindh. "We have trained over 10,000 women from 12 districts of the most
under developed including Jacobabad, Kandhkot, Kashmore, Shikarpur, Ghotki,
Qambar Shahdadkot,Larkana, Thatta, Noshehro Feroze, Mirpur Khas, Khairpur and
Sukkur," said Kalhoro.
Education and Women's Development Minister Rana Hussain
inaugurated the three-day event.
She lauded the efforts of the SRSO for arranging the event
and expressed hope that the event could be further helpful for development of
links and easy market access for the artisans of skilled products.
The exhibition comprised stitched and unstitched cloth,
needle work with different types of embroidery, straw work, bed sheets, crochet
work, machine embroidery and other items for women.
There were more than two dozen stalls exhibiting a mixture of
traditional arts and crafts. Riaz Jalalani, the Manager of the SRSO Craft and
Enterprise Sector.
Scores of people visited the exhibition and appreciated the
work of skilled women entrepreneurs.
A number of prominent figures of Showbiz, beaurucrats, social
workers including SRSO's board of Members Rafiq Buriro, Azar Ayaz, Ghulam
Mustafa Abro, Ghulam Sarwar Khero, Secretary Education Sheerin Mustafa Narejo,
Mustafa Suhag attended the event.
