Cultural skill: Carrying forward the tradition of doll making

Lok Virsa holds doll-making workshop for students

ISLAMABAD: A week-long doll making workshop for children kicked off at the National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage (Lok Virsa) on Tuesday.

Themed “harnessing culture with education”, the workshop is a joint venture of Lok Virsa, Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) and the Directorate General of Special Education. It aims to create a linkage between folk crafts and education, especially among young students.

Puppeteer and Lok Virsa board member Farooq Qaiser, in his welcome speech, said one of the main agenda of such an initiative is to promote and transfer cultural skills on to the next generation. Qaiser said dolls keep children company and entertain them when they are alone.



“Doll making is an indication of innocence, friendship and honesty and one of the best elements of our culture. This craft should not be forgotten. It should be encouraged as much as possible,” Qaiser said.

Minister of State for Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) Barrister Usman Ibrahim, who inaugurated the workshop, lauded Lok Virsa’s initiatives for promoting folk crafts and culture.

He said the public-sector education institutes have outperformed the private one in Islamabad. He lauded the workshop which he said would familiarise students with tradition and called for more such programmes.

Islamabad Model School for Girls G -6/1 Principal Ghazala Yasmin said such activities serve as a catalyst for creativity and help in flourishing a healthy mindset. She said the workshop would inspire students and help them pick up productive activities.

Some 45 students from various schools in Islamabad and Rawalpindi are attending the workshop, which concludes on November 15.

Other craft workshops in the pipeline are truck art, pottery marking, weaving, block printing, stone carving, lacquer art and wax painting.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 11^th, 2015.