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LAHORE: The Arts & Craft Village opened at the Museum of Puppetry and Rafi Peer Cultural Complex in Green Acre Farm Housing Society on Raiwind Road on Friday.
Norwegian ambassador Robert Kvile inaugurated the village amid tight security. A three-day folk concert also opened along with the village.
On the first day of the festival, folk singer Krishan Lal Bheel’s ensemble from Uch Sharif performed along with some other folk singers.
Bashir Lohar’s dance company from Jhang also performed on the occasion. The festival will offer puppet shows from 5pm to 10pm from Oct 30 to Nov 1.
The village has 11 small shops featuring traditional arts from all over Punjab. The first phase of the village has been launched with 11 shops, office space, four outdoor shops and a lawn. The second phase would be launched later.
Faizan Pirzada, creative director of the festival, was all praise for his team, participants and visitors who enlivened the occasion amid the prevailing unfavourable conditions.
He said craftsmen had been trained in creating artefacts according to their own aesthetic instincts. They had been given a new vision with their traditions to find new products, material, marketing tools and sustainability grounds such as the truck art stall. The village would soon develop a website to advertise itself and its craftsmen.
A number of craftsmen from various cities of Punjab have put on display dying and traditional arts at the village. Azizullah from Bolan, Balochistan, put on display artificial leather products. Saadat Ali from Haripur had in his shop handmade phulkari.
A woman from Sindh Malooka set up a shop of traditional Sindhi bed sheets and other such items. A stall from Multan had woodcrafts, camel skin and other traditional arts on display. Some people put on display jewellery, pottery, traditional music instruments, ivory products, key chains and other decorative material.
The craftsmen said they were selling their products at market rate, but they had yet to earn profit. They said now they could sell their products directly to their customers, as the village had abolished the role of the middleman. |
