A large number of people attended the fourth India Art and Craft Show. PHOTO: COURTESY THE CRAFTERS' GUILD
KARACHI: Exhibiting the works of independent artists, craftsmen and creative innovators, The Indie Art and Craft Show, held at the Royal Rodale Club on Sunday, certainly impressed visitors.
The craft show, now celebrating its fourth year, is a small scale version of the annual Crafter's Expo. Seventy people participated in the event, which they had been working towards for the last three months under The Crafter's Guild, an organisation that works to bring together the crafters' community. Since 2012, the annual craft shows have contributed immensely to the growing popularity of urban craft.
According to the organiser and founder of The Crafter's Guild, Varah Musavvir, the event is facilitating 85% women-based initiatives and brands that include home decor, fashion accessories, paintings, illumination art, stationery, paper crafts and gift items, besides traditional handicrafts represented by non-governmental organisations (NGO). Musavvir added that 36% of the participants are under the age of 30 while 22% are students.
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"These events bring together the community to celebrate their local heroes and crafters to represent Pakistan in a positive light," said Musavvir. She added that the show is a result of hard work spread over the course of three months. Musavvir also spoke about the pre-event workshop, titled 'Struggles of an Entrepreneurial Creative', in which all the participants were mentored by Faizan Laghari, Shaima Ahmed, Sara Jamil and Nabeel Naved. The workshop was imperative as many crafters were exhibiting their work for the first time or did not have prior experience in representing their brand, she said.
According to the founder of The Crafter's Guild, events like The Indie Art and Craft Show represent Pakistan in a positive light. PHOTO: COURTESY THE CRAFTERS’ GUILDA visitor, Mrs Nadeem, who had come to the exhibition with her family, said it is good to spend a Sunday appreciating the hard work of our local craftsmen. She said that her children wanted to go to a park or the beach but she had committed herself to visit the exhibition.
Some highlights of the event included the enterprises of 10-year old Nur of Nur Organic Studio and Bisma from Bisma Creativity, along with the recipients of the Guild Award from the spring event, Bohemian Crunch, including NamoOnay, Funparaz and Queen of Tarts-Patisserie.
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Other brands that made an impact in pre-event promotions included ArtSea Creations, Holly Dove's Secrets, AK Toonify, Mariam's Art, Pooja's, Abees99 Creativity, Inkblot, HunarParay, Antique'A, Picklenary, Mera Art, Doodle Diaries, Blends by Sameeya and Rangoli by Emm Zee.
Dreen, the founder of Holly Dove's Secrets, arranged a stall exhibiting arts and ethnic jewellery and said she started off with greeting cards and now is also working in handmade jewellery.
The event served as a perfect platform for families to shop and appreciate the crafts. As Musavvir summed up, 'Happiness is handmade'.
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