KARACHI: The three-day 17th Sartyoon Sang Crafts Exhibition organised by the Sindh Rural Support Organisation (SRSO) opened at Ocean Mall here on Friday.

The little shop on the mall’s ground floor was crowded by customers on the exhibition’s first day. Some were looking at the rallis [quilts], some were trying to decide which of the embroidered kurtis, waistcoats, dupattas, stoles, ajrak and lungi they should buy, some were interested in the footwear and bags, others were busy selecting the pretty wall hangings and relic models from Mohenjo Daro. There were also planters, vases and baskets and boxes with traditional Sindhi designs available.

While showing the various craft pieces at the exhibition, Surraiya Agha, who leads the crafts brand Sartyoon Sang at SRSO in Sukkur, shared with Dawn their way of working with artisans and craftspersons. “We have built direct linkages with craftspersons, most of whom are women in the villages of Sindh,” she said. “We don’t just sell their work. We promote their work. We also give them the profit earned from the sales. We only keep the amount we paid to buy the material such as the cost of the cloth or the threads and our transport expenditure. The rest is for the artisans to keep,” she said.

Surraiya showed some cushion covers done in sami ralli work worth Rs2,000 each. A ralli done in the same needlework was selling there for Rs60,000.

SRSO’s CEO Muhammad Dittal Kalhoro said that the ralli was made by at least three craftswomen over a period of three to four months. “See, the delicate work,” he said. “And it is all done in one piece. It is not little pieces sewn together,” he pointed out. He added that they also pay the craftspersons for the craft pieces they take from them on the spot.

It takes rural women months to make one ralli, organiser says

“Then when we sell them and make a profit, that entire money also goes to them.”

Basheera Khatoon from Larkana said that she is part of a group of artisans who make the crafts. “I am myself an expert in applique work,” she said. “I learned needlework from my mother and grandmother. Back when they worked, there was no such caring organisation like SRSO. My grandmother is no longer around but my mother is. And she is so happy to see this positive change where we are enjoying the benefits of our labour,” she smiled.

Iqra Bibi from Khairpur proudly showed a long velvet coat and several kurtis, which she had stitched herself. “Some crafts we learned while growing up at home. The rest we learned through training organised by SRSO,” she said.

The three-day exhibition concludes on Sunday.

Published in Dawn, December 6th, 2025