LARKANA: Visitors from all walks of life continued to throng the weeklong art and handicrafts exhibition here on Monday, equally appreciating artistic skills of village artisans as well as certified painters and designers.

The exhibition organised by a civil society organisation, Sindhu Vaas Foundation at Sita Villas, will draw to a close on Jan 31.

A big stall of Sindhi handicrafts arranged by Sindh Rural Support Organisation (SRSO), which had put on display ajraks, rillies, textile products, fashion apparel, embroidered garments, traditional items made from date palm leaves and wheat straw, hand crafted jewels and key chains pulled large crowds.

Visitors were also enth­used to see around 100 pain­tings created by senior artist Ayoub Gaad, Niaz Khas­kheli and students of Cadet College and IBA Public School Larkana.

Naveed Ahmed Soomro and Bisharat Bhatti of the SRSO said the handicrafts’ sale was quite encouraging. Many visitors had placed orders for different articles which would be delivered to them later, they said, adding orders could also be placed online.

They said the handicrafts were purely made by village women who would receive the entire proceeds from the sale of their products. “This will not only promote traditional handicrafts but also empower village women,” they said.

Romain Ahuja and Rim­sha Qureshi of Shaheed Zul­fikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Sci­e­nce and Technology (SZABIST), Karachi, were seen interacting enthusiastically with students of Ali Baba Public School, Hing­orja, and telling them about the benefits of holding such festivals on a regular basis.

Mukhtiar Ali Jogi, their teacher, told Dawn that almost all students belonged to Jogi community, a neglec­ted segment of society. “I used to be a daily-wage earner. After doing matriculation I decided to establish a school for the Jogi community to help them shun beggary and do some respectable work to earn livelihood. I am satisfied today that I have succeeded in my mission,” he said. He said the school had now 120 students. He spoke highly of the generosity of Syed Kazim Ali Shah Lakyari, an influential person of the area, and said that Mr Shah had donated land for the school and had two rooms built from his pocket.

He had donated another piece of land to use it for some income generating project and make Jogi clan members economically strong, he said.

Ms Rimsha Qureshi and Romain Ahuja said their experience was very positive, encouraging and inspi­ring as the students took keen interest in learning ABC of music. “We will soon launch an online portal for music from SZABIST’s platform as part of a talent hunt project,” they said.

Dr Jagdesh Ahuja and Sumeer Ahuja, the driving force behind the foundation, said the objective of holding the exhibition was to work for gender equality through women empowerment and promotion of a sense of history.

They said that foundation stone laying ceremony of Comrade Sobho Gianchan­dani Memorial would be held in his ancestral village, Bindi, near Moenjodaro on the concluding day of the exhibition on Jan 31. Syed Jalal Mehmood Shah, chairman of Sindh United Party, would be chief guest at the ceremony, they said.

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2018