Lok Virsa sent a team of professionals to Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) to carry out extensive field work to document and preserve its indigenous folk culture and craft heritage.
According to Lok Virsa Executive Director Shahera Shahid, since 2002, the government of Pakistan has assigned major responsibilities to the Lok Virsa research team regarding collection, documentation, preservation and dissemination of local culture, said a press release.
The Gilgit-Baltistan Initiative
In June 2014, a museum-related research field-tour of the state was pursued by Lok Virsa’s management team. The five-member team was headed by Pakistan National Museum of Ethnology deputy director Anwaarul Haq.
The team was tasked with authenticating existing Lok Virsa data on craftspeople and finding new craftspeople, artisans, folk artists, folk musicians and folk dance groups. The team covered six districts of G-B --- Gilgit, Hunza-Nagar, Ghizer, Skardu, Gaunche and Astore.
The assignment was conducted between June 19 and June 29. There were a series of interviews with traditional practitioners, visits to workplaces in their hometowns, and documentation on craftspeople, folk artists and musicians.
The Magic Begins
After completing fieldwork, the team authenticated 50 talented artisans and 25 folk artists and musicians.
In Karimabad, the team found 15 practitioners of ‘sharma weaving’ --- a traditional floor-rug weaved from yak, goat and sheep wool.
The team also met Niaz Hunzai, who plays a traditional flute called a ‘surnai’. He has been working to pass his skills on to the younger generation of Karimabad.
Important craft areas covered in the tour include embroidery, carpet-weaving, traditional musical Instruments, basket-weaving, stone-carving, woodwork, jewellery and traditional embroidered dresses and costumes, among other areas of interest.
The team also collected a number of important artefacts, crafts and ethnological material from various artisans.
Upon completion of the fieldwork, Lok Virsa is planning to nominate local research coordinators in G-B as part of the initiative. Arts and craft festivals will be held in collaboration with the G-B culture department and art councils in major cities and a new three-dimensional display of a traditional house in G-B at the Heritage Museum in Islamabad.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 1st, 2014.
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