Like the threads of warp and weft in a loom, culture too is woven into the lives of a people. It is this commitment to the traditional craft of shawl-making in the small village of Islampur, 10km from Saidu Sharif, in Swat, that transforms the mundane yarn to life and turns it into a piece of heirloom.

Muted colours of the shawl, the mystery of age-old patterns and motifs, soft hand-feel and a beautiful drape lend it warmth and connect us to the seamless tradition which, for a few years was lost in war and strife. The beautiful valley of Swat, some 150km northeast of Peshawar, was best known to for the treasure trove of archaeological sites, scenic beauty was on a visitor’s radar till the Taliban took over in 2006-07.

In Islampur shawl-making craft is the mainstay income. There are between 3,000 to 4,000 handlooms strewn across the village with every home doubling as a small factory unit. The hand loom and time-worn charkha (spinning wheel) and baskets full of spools, ready to be weaved, are found in every nook and home. The same number of people is directly or indirectly involved with this craft. Two years back the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government declared it an industrial village and earmarked Rs7.5 million for its revitalisation. However, there are no visible signs to show that the money has been put where the mouth is.

Watching Mohammad Anwar, 72, turn a spool of thread in and out of his old-style loom is altogether mesmerising. Sitting outside in the mud-house courtyard, he watches life whizz by as his fingers deftly weave as if of their volition. The old man sits on a ragtag cushion at the edge of a pit with his legs dangling in the hole, weaving pattu. “It is a kind of woolen fabric used for making waistcoats, caps and even choghas (woollen gowns),” he explains.

He is among the very few weavers left in Islampur, who are still using the age-old pit loom when others (including his two sons) have set it aside in favour of upright ones or even the motorised ones. “Between 12,000 to 15,000 shawls are made daily on these looms and if each shawl is sold at an average of Rs500, the cumulative income generated each day from Islampur comes to almost six million,” says Hazer Gul, who formed the Islampur Cottage Industry Association. A high quality shawl is available in Islampur anywhere between Rs 500-800, but is sold for Rs 1,000-1,500 in the big commercial markets of Sindh and Punjab.

Like the businesses in the rest of the valley, the weaver community of Islampur had suffered economically due to the Taliban insurgency (2006-2009) followed a year later by the floods. The floods in 2010 took a further toll on this cottage industry as the raw material coming from Kalam, Kohistan, Dir, Kaghan and Mansehra etc., stopped after road network and bridges collapsed. The yarn used by Anwar to make pattu is spun by his wife, Gul Nisa on the charkha now for over 40 years; she picked up the ropes of weaving from her mother. Starting at seven in the morning, Anwar works till six in the evening, and is able to weave between 10 to 20 yards of the woollen fabric on a good day and sells it for Rs5 per yard. “In the market the rate is between Rs55 and 60 a yard,” he rues. But his failing health is making it increasingly difficult to weave as much.

Islampur can be turned into a big tourist attraction. A guided tour of the narrow alleys of the village, where artisans are found at every corner, where visitors can watch women like Mutwahera spinning yarn (she can make between 400 to 500 spools in a day), or be given a chance to sit on khaddis (looms) and taught the intricate art of weaving and thread-making, while being told tales of yore would add value to the visit.

But there is a danger the craft may remain where it is or even die a silent death unless innovations are brought about in it, says Gul. “We know the craft but we need to get better raw material. The wool from New Zealand, Australia and Canada is soft and free of chemicals; if we use that wool to make yarn we will develop a niche for our craft in the international market. Right now our shawls are popular in very limited parts of Pakistan,” he says.

With all attention on revitalising Swat and bringing it back on the tourism radar, Gul thinks time is right for the government to pay attention to the woes of the weavers and promote the craft.