Handicrafts of Pakistan

[pkpatriotic]

Handicrafts of Pakistan is just another precious stone in the bejeweled crown of Pakistani culture and heritage. Be it intricately decorated metal craft or some marvelous marble inlay work or some exquisite paintings, Pakistani handicrafts are going places with their ethnic designs and flourishing textures. The time stands testimony to the evolving of the art and craft as the civilization grew from cave to the modern cities and now Pakistani handicraft is the integrated part of the Pakistani culture leaving the whole world amazed and wanting for more. The immense magic created by the Pakistani hands is visible from the timeless artistry of the dazzling semi precious jewelery, exquisite furniture, colorful toys and dolls, beautiful paintings and enthralling sculptures.

The metal crafts of Pakistan are the fine kaleidoscope of the craftsmanship and fine arts in shaping gold, silver, brass, copper into exquisite and intricately designed images, idols, jewelery and utility items leaving a unique appeal in everyone’s mind. Pakistan’s fame in precious and semi-precious stone jewelery is world famous. The timeless stone jewelery are proud with their classy royalty and at the same time narrating the saga of the hands that polished the rough stone and gave its present look. Another side of the Pakistani handicrafts is the excellent paintings that Pakistan has been producing since time immortal. Started out with the rock paintings in caves, Pakistani paintings are now finding place in every art lover’s house across the world. The magical and decorative earthen pots coming out from the potter’s wheels are gaining salute from every corner of the globe.

 

[pkpatriotic]

 

[Patrician]

Are any of these items exported to India?

 

[Big Bang]

Beautiful Architecture There.... Hey I have also heard of the Pakistani Embroidery, I remember Having One When I was In my Primary Classes, I used to sleep with it ...Nostalgic

 

[pkpatriotic]

Are any of these items exported to India?

Exactly, may not go via regular export, but I have been observed that, Indian visitors love to take Pakistani handicrafts with them to India.

 

[third eye]

Onyx from Pak is fairly popular at pak stalls in exhibitions in Delhi.

 

[Spring Onion]

beautiful. post more

 

[pkpatriotic]

Province Sind The valley of Mehran, one of the oldest civilizations in the world are from Indus valley. The people of Sind are simple, hospitable and loving. The major cities are Karachi (sea port) and largest city of country, hadierabd, nawab Shah, Khairpur, Sukkur, Larkan and Rohri.

Ajrak is an integral part of Sindhi culture. Its usage is evident at all levels of society, and the cloth is held in high esteem, with the utmost respect given to it. According to Sindhi traditions Ajrak is also presented as a gift of hospitality to guests and is worn on festive occasions such as weddings. Many Pakistani politicians particularly those from Sindh have worn Ajrak.

A UNIQUE PRINTING METHOD

When worn and washed, the colors of the Ajrak become more brilliant and luminous. This is the most tedious and time consuming process and very few craftsmen today go through all the stages.

1. The fabric used is usually Latha. (Pure Cotton/Calico). 40 pieces of 5 meter lengths are torn to make one lot.
2. The pieces are washed in the river. The cloth is also soaked in a solution of Soda Bicarbonate and water.
3. The fabric is then steamed to remove the impurities. (Chemical finishing). This is on a special mud stove called Khumbh for about 16 hours.
4. It is washed again in the river and beaten to dislodge the impurities.
5. Camel dung is soaked in water and the fabric is soaked in it to make the fabric soft and also acts as a bleaching agent (Alkaline). This helps the printing of the fabric.
6. The fabric is then soaked in a solution of a special oil and Soda Bicarbonate. This is quite a complicated procedure and takes several days. The treatment is alternated and there are several steps to this. By the end oil is completely impregnated in the fibre. This is what gives the suppleness to the Ajrak as well as making it virtually indestructible.
7. The next stage prepares the fabric for the printing stages. Gurrh (molasses), dried lemons, castor oil Sakun (tamarisk) and water are used to make a dough. This dough is mixed in a big vessel with water and the cloth is soaked in it.
8. Chapayi/Printing: Gum and Lime is mixed with Alizarine for Kiryana (Printing of the white outlines) Blocks are soaked in the solution (brown) and the white outlines are printed over. This will be washed later to give the white outlines.
9. Kut: Printing of the black areas: Gum, Ferrous Sulphate, Fullers earth and water are used to make the black outlines.
10. The fabric on which Kut and Kiryana have been printed are now reprinted with the Kiryana mixture. This ensures that when the cloth is soaked in dye these areas will remain sparkling white or black and the color will not dye these areas.
11. The next step is printing over the red areas. Amongst the ingredients used is Ata (wheat flour), Phitkari (alum), (Phitkari), Gurrh (molasses) and Saunf (fennel). The areas to be dyed red are printed and while still wet are dusted with ground cow dung or rice husk to protect against the indigo dye to be printed later.
12. Indigo, Chuna (lime), Soda and Gurrh (Molasses) is used to dye the Indigo parts of the Ajrak.
13. The dyed and dried Ajrak is taken to the river to be washed. The Ajrak is submerged in water to dislodge the gums, alums and dung.
14. The Ajrak is then dyed with red dye which dyes the parts left over. Care is taken that the white areas are not dyed inadvertently.
15. The Ajrak is treated with Camel dung and water to brighten the whites and make the colors brilliant.
16. The Ajraks are again washed in soda water and in the river beaten to remove the dung. After drying they are ready for meena.
17. All the areas except the ones dyed in indigo are covered by block printing with a mixture of Alum, gum and wheat flour. The resist print is then dusted with dry powdered dung to dry it.
18. The Ajrak is again dyed in indigo (natural or chemical).
19. The Ajraks are washed in Soda and water with bleaching powder to give a sparkle to the colors. Viola! Finally the Ajrak is ready.

The other three processes of Ajrak are variations on the same theme except that some short-cut or substitution is made. In the old days, only natural vegetable dyes were used for the Ajrak. Now, chemical dyes have been substituted. Natural Indigo is grown in Pakistan and is cheaper, therefore it is still used by some craftsmen.

The craft is an art in decline. Profit margins are low since the craftsmen are dependent on wholesalers who keep large margins and pay very low prices for the Ajraks. The cost of blocks is high in relation to the margins of the Ajrak making new investment in blocks difficult. Of-course, no credit facilities are available to the craftsmen. As a result, the younger generations are being weaned away from the traditional source of livelihood. The original Ajrak is disappearing; modern, quicker printing methods of copying the original patterns are fulfilling local demand.

 

[pkpatriotic]

Punjab is the very important province of the Pakistan. It is known as Punjab because of five rivers in this area. Punjab has very old history and civilization. The trends of Punjab have very long belongings. This land is very fertile as because of five rivers. According to population Punjab is the largest province of the Pakistan. The Punjabi culture is very well known word in the world. It could be seen in every aspect of Punjabians.

KHUSSA

PARANDI..!

DRESS

BUILDING

MUSIC

FOOD [SAAG]

 

[Super Falcon]

welll amazing work friends i like the sindhi topi thing becoz i myself is sindhi

 

[akash57]

These are just beautiful! Would love to see more!

 

[naumananjum]

really nice
this is no doubt an asset of Pak
.
good work

 

[arty101]

Very nice thread. I am quite a big fan of Pakistani handicrafts. Would like to post few pictures of Brass carving handicrafts and wooden items!