ISLAMABAD: A six-day kite and chunri-making event started at Lok Virsa on Tuesday.
The event was part of Lok Virsa’s series, ‘Craft of the Month’, which aims to educate children about their traditions and culture. About 100 children from schools that operate under the Federal Directorate of Education attended. Students from other institutions including Iqra University also participated.
Speaking at the inauguration of the event, MNA Dr Ramesh Kumar said Lok Virsa’s initiative of reviving our traditions should be supported.
“Youth are our future and Lok Virsa has taken a great step towards raising awareness among them about our traditions and culture,” he said.
He said that training programmes like these will go a long way in preserving traditional arts like chunri and kite making which, he added, had ties with the ancient civilisation of Mohenjodaro.
Teaching the children about chunri making were Ameer Mai, Shamim Mai, Razia Bibi and Mohammad Farhan while the kite makers participating in the event were Mohammad Qaiser, Mohammad Nasir and Abdul Basit. Some of these artists had come from Southern Punjab and Bahawalpur.
Ameer Mai, a 60-year-old chunri artist from Cholistan, said she had learnt how to make chunris from her mother when she was just five.
“My mother made excellent chunris. The women in our community are very dedicated to what they do. I have trained some 25 girls who are now skilled enough to teach others,” she said.
She explained that to make chunris, small ball like objects like chick peas are tied all over the fabric to create a design. The fabric is then dyed after which the ties are removed and the fabric is air dried.
Mohammad Nasir, who makes kites, told Dawn that business for him and other kite makers had not been good recently because of the ban on kite flying and appreciated Lok Virsa’s efforts towards reviving the tradition of kite making.
“I am training a group of 15 students and they are so keen to learn. It has only been a day and they can already make kites,” he said.
0 Comments: