ISLAMABAD, April 16: The role of modern technology and techniques in preserving and promoting the age-old arts and crafts is a fact acknowledged by most of the Lok Mela artisans, but not without growing concerns over the patentship of their work in a world ruled by vicious free market economy.

Talking to Dawn, while some artisans appreciated the and welcomed the introduction of new techniques and equipment to take their splended creation and and products to yet another higher level, others seemed apprehensive about loosing their individuality and the challenges posed by the global market.

More than 5,000 people flock to the Lok Mela at Shakraparian, every evening, to savour the timeless quality of our traditional arts, craft, dances and haunting musical tunes.

Obviously, the emphasis of Lok Virsa is on preserving the cultural heritage and pass on the legacy to the future generations.

Coming back to the present century, the primary question is: “Will our art and crafts endure the onslaught of modern technology and survive the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements”?

In reply to this million-dollar query, Suroz exponent, Sucho Khan, who is awaiting nomination for next year’s pride of performance spoke of a different kind of worry.

He has two wives and 11 children to feed. He has not received any radio programmes for the last two years and has been invited by the PTV only three times to record his musical achievments.

Sucho Khan said he relied on the generosity of his patron, Nawab Akbar Bugti, who invited him to perform at private concerts for which he received about Rs50,000 to Rs60,000 annually from him.

The PTV does not pay royalty for repeated telecast of his programmes. He informed that he was unable to enforce the copyright on music and was losing out to modern technology since PTV has preserved all his music.

Amir Shah, a block printer from Krore Pucca, a town in southern Punjab, maintains that modern know-how has worked to his advantage.

There were more than 100 block printers in his town who were doing thriving business after a Bengali expert, brought in by the International Labour Organization (ILO), taught them to revert to the method of using vegetable dyes for block printing.

With the knowledge gained from the workshop, he improvised 20 colours and also passed the technique to artisans in Hunza, who have become adept in using these colours in carpet weaving and embroidery.

He compared his work with another artisan, Mohammad Akbar Chughtai, who used chemical dyes for block printing on bed sheets and pillow cases. He boasted of more sales but Shah dismissed his claim and said bedspreads coloured from natural dyes were more in demand.

A Brazilian lady, Christina Afridi, who was buying bedspreads at Amir Shah’s outlet, said simulated materials made in the west would soon flood the market after the WTO protocols come into effect and hand-made goods would not stand a chance against them.

The Lok Virsa coordinating director Khalid Javed dismissed the notion. He said, Pakistan National Crafts Council had taken up this matter with the World Crafts Council and had sought assurances that hand-made products would be protected.

The director, research, Adam Nayyer, conceded that no one could stop change, which would come eventually. The need is for patenting the intellectual property. Fortunately, cultural organizers and policy makers were aware of this and took up this challenge.

In this regard recommendations, in the Global Knowledge Conference held at Kuala Lumpur, sought guarantees for patenting intellectual property in the South Asian region. He added several NGOs were active in innovating traditional designs without destroying its essence.

A considerable amount of intangible heritage has been preserved on videotapes and visual imagings and periodical airing of these have brought worldwide fame to many artists, he said.

He cited the case of late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, who gained international fame after Lok Virsa recorded his home grown concerts and sent the recordings to French musical organizations.

This was an appropriate time for cultural managers of the country such as Lok Virsa, PNCA, Small industries Corporation to look anew at the WTO regime and make suitable policies to meet challenges it posed to our traditional arts and crafts, said a musicologist, who was present during the discussion.—Jonaid Iqbal