KARACHI: The 16th edition of the four-day Sartyoon Sang Crafts Exhibition at the Ocean Mall gives visitors the chance to look and admire exquisite handicrafts of Sindh.

Held annually, the exhibition promotes rural crafts of mostly women artisans.

There were ralli, ajrak, embroidered chadors and shirts with mirror work, Sindhi caps and purses, along with so many decoration pieces, handwoven baskets, framed crafts, and other works.

Some of the artisans directly involved in producing the crafts were also present at the stalls, taking pride in their hard work as customers appreciated and bought the items.

Speaking to Dawn, Shahida Baloch from Sukkur, said that even though she is now an SRSO employee, she was an artisan initially and that there is nothing at the SRSO stall which she cannot make herself. “I didn’t learn the handicrafts from any school or institute. My mother’s and grandmother’s lap was my first learning institute,” she said.

Artisans deal directly with customers to get an idea of the market

“When SRSO came to our village, they also visited my home and saw the handicrafts I was producing. They gave me some orders. After that they took me on as a trainee,” she said, while informing that she has also been to India in 2009 under a South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) association for home-based workers called Sabah Pakistan.

“I visited Ahmedabad in India for one month, where there is a similar organisation called Self-Employed Women’s Association or SEWA. Besides learning stitching and more crafts there, we also attended sessions on community management, running of small businesses, etc,” she said.

Fahmida Jatoi of Agha Ali Jatoi village in District Khairpur said that she also learned Sindhi embroidery from her family. “Our crafts are handed down to us through generations,” she said. “I learned from my mother and older sisters. Earlier, we used to do embroidery on shirts only. Then SRSO trained us in other handicrafts, too. Now we produce keychains, jewellery, bags, buttons, etc. I’m now an entrepreneur. My company is called Aghaz Handicraft Centre. Some of the items on sale here are from my company,” she said proudly.

SRSO’s Assistant Manager, Craft Enterprise Development, Mirza Sulaiman Baig, told Dawn that many women in Sindh’s rural areas have skill but no resources. “The artisans working with us represent around 15 districts of Sindh, including Thatta, Kashmore, Badin, Umerkot, Mirpukhas, Khairpur, Sukkur, Larkana, Qambar Shahdadkot, Jacobabad, Ghotki, Hala, Matiari, etc. Each product mentions which district it belongs to. We help them polish their crafts while also teaching them to produce items according to the demands of the urbanised markets,” he said.

“We also display their handicrafts at this exhibition. As it is, due to the industrial revolution, our handmade products have taken a hit. We want to create space for them in the market again,” he said.

He also said that the artisans have already been paid for their labour by SRSO, which is up to 40 per cent of the cost of an item. The amount is more than what is paid to the labour in the market normally. Some 10 to 15 per cent of the profit from the sales also goes to them. “We bring several of the artisans here to the exhibition so they can deal directly with customers to also get an idea of their demands, specifications, needs, quality, etc. After gathering feedback from them they return home with a better idea of the market,” he said.

The exhibition concludes on Sunday (today).

Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2025