Promoting local businesses: Three-day crafts exhibition opens in Karachi

Over 12,000 women have been trained by SRSO in modern skills

KARACHI: The works of over 3,545 female artisans from different districts of Sindh are being displayed at the 6th 'Sartyoon Sang Crafts' exhibition at Ocean Mall Clifton, Karachi. The exhibition was opened to public on Friday and will run till Sunday.

The three-day exhibition has been organised by the Sindh Rural Support Organisation (SRSO) in collaboration with the Sindh Government to display the work of female artisans from rural Sindh and aims to provide them with market linkages.



Sindh chief minister, Murad Ali Shah, who inaugurated the exhibition, appreciated the SRSO's endeavours for the poor and destitute community. "We all need to be very practical in understanding the issues of women at the ground level and make concerted efforts to resolve them," he asserted.

The first day of the exhibition received an overwhelming response from local and international visitors. As many as 15 stalls have been set up in the mall's main foyer that exhibit garments, Ajrak, furniture, decoration pieces, leather handbags, bed sheets and other traditional items. Visitors took keen interest in handmade household goods and other traditional products. The event also featured traditional folk dances on Allan Faqeer's Sufi poetry.





The chief minsiter said that artisans dedicate their entire lives to preparing masterpieces, but their work is never appreciated in urban centers, such as Karachi. "However, these activities will certainly bring the handicrafts of Sindh into the limelight," he hoped.

SRSO Chief Executive Officer Muhammad Dittal Kalhoro said that the event was aimed at facilitating better incomes for female artisans of rural Sindh.



"We have trained more than 12,000 women from some of the most under-developed regions of Jacobabad, Kandhkot-Kashmore, Shikarpur, Ghotki, Qambar-Shahdadkot, Khairpur and Sukkur," he said, adding that the artisans have incorporated urban trends into their work to gain maximum monetary benefit from their skills. "In order to set apart their work from what is available in the market, we have made a few innovations, such as the net work done on the blankets," said CEO Kalhoro.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 5^th, 2019.