Written by: Tasarunn Munir
Posted on: July 11, 2018 | 
| 中文
Handmade pottery
Hosted by the Sindh Indigenous and Traditional Crafts Company (SITCO), the Karachi Haat Crafts Centre was set up on 7th and 8th July, at the National Museum of Pakistan. In a collaborative effort that was backed by both SITCO and Department of Culture, Government of Sindh, the aim of this event was to celebrate and promote the dwindling Sindhi cultural crafts. Set up like a small market, resembling a traditional rural haat (an open-air market), the organizers had arranged for Sindhi music to play in the background. Accompanied by a friend, I walked into an event in full swing on Saturday, with plenty of Karachiites visiting that evening.
Different stalls were allocated to various artisans, who had come from all over Sindh to showcase and sell their work. Works included ralli garments, glazed pottery, hand-printed fabrics, block-printed scarves and shirt-pieces, the traditional Sindhi Ajrak works and many other handmade products, such as Sindhi caps, waistcoats and decoration pieces. The event had all the Sindhi small-scale industries covered: owners of block printed works from Matiari showcased their cotton and lawn materials, potters from Hala came with their trademark blue and white hand-painted pottery work, and ladies from Khairpur had constructed hand-woven baskets out of date tree leaves.
The most attractive part of the entire event was not just its attempt to revive the Sindhi culture but what it resulted in. Small-scale craftsmen were given the opportunity to showcase their hard work outside their rural settings. The extremely elegant products were being showcased by their makers, who could easily talk to the customers about the complicated and elaborate efforts that go into making such indigenous products. For example, one stall owner explained how the dyed and printed fabric he was selling, went through a process that involved the material being washed a total of sixteen times, and cooked in fire twice. Likewise, a woman explained how an entire blanket was made by stitching together numerous, smaller patches, all of which had different designs of embroidery, and how stitching it took hours of effort.
While conversing with Abdur Rehman, assistant director SITCO, I learnt that the traditional handicraft company, which aims to empower artisans in local markets, has an entire database of such artisans. Their team visited interior Sindh to conduct meetings with them, offering to provide transportation, accommodation and a certain daily allowance. In return, they were simply asked to bring their crafts, to display and sell them in the Karachi Haat Centre.
Abdur Rehman stressed that this was an important opportunity for the craftsmen, to come in direct contact with the market, instead of through a broker. What is often noticed is that usually profit-motivated middlemen are involved in the dealings between small-scale sellers and buyers who are not based near their locations. However, with this initiative, the middlemen only sought to connect the buyers and the sellers, without altering the prices at which these craftsmen wanted to sell their products. Therefore, they sold their works at prices that were considerably less than normal market rates of traditional Sindhi works in Karachi. Since the entire sum would go into the pockets of the craftsmen, they were more than happy.
The event was a huge success, not only in terms of the number of people it attracted, but also because it managed to celebrate culture in the way it should be celebrated – taking pleasure in the aesthetics and efforts of the workmen, instead of running after a commercialized or monetary incentive. The sellers benefited by being able to sell their own products, at a price they demanded, while the customers were ecstatic to catch a glimpse of a dying industry, and therefore play their part in supporting it.
The returns from the event went to the well-deserving crafts people. You can attend Karachi Haat again, this weekend, on the 14th and 15th of July, at National Museum of Pakistan, Karachi.
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