ISLAMABAD, Nov 27 Lok Virsa has launched a project to document ancient craft skills and preserve and display those at architecture hall at Lok Virsa museum.

Talk to Dawn, Lok Virsa Executive Director Khalid Javaid said Pakistan had a glorious heritage of crafts in chal ka kishti farsh, diwar naqashi, Fresco, enamelled tile mosaic, Arabesque, ghalib kari, kashi kari, parchin kashi kari, mulamma sazi, pietra dura, pucca qalai, soffit, tarseem bandi and wooden lattice work.

He said these crafts were vanishing due to ingress of modern technology, adding Lok Virsa had planned to preserve crafts to educate posterity.

He said Lok Virsa had started preservation process by first documenting them and then arranging their display in a three-dimensional creative mode. He said Lok Virsa would give incentives to crafts artisans.

While giving details of the crafts, Mr Javaid said in diwar naqashi patterns were transferred onto a flat white lime plaster surface and colours were then applied to the pattern.

In kashi kari or enameled tile work, thin slabs of glazed or unglazed kiln-fired clay were used to decorate building stoneware or earthenware.

Similarly, parchin kashi kari work involved thin enameled burnt clay tiles in vivid colours to be cut and fitted in a way as to create floral, geometric, figural or calligraphic shapes.

Mulamma Sazi is another art which required gold leaves to be applied to surfaces of stone metal, wood or stucco plaster. It is an ancient craft which was used lavishly in Gandhara sculptures as well as in illuminating manuscripts used during the Mughal times.

Likewise, Pietra Dura is the art of inlaying semi-precious stones on a marble surface to create exquisite floral designs. It is a gift from the Mughals.