ISLAMABAD: Art & Craft Village ‘to be inaugurated on Nov 1’

By Noor Aftab
The Art and Craft Village along the Kashmir Highway next to the Rose and Jasmine Garden would be inaugurated on November 1, a senior CDA official told ‘The News’ here.

Spread over an area of 20 acres, the site will feature a cluster of craft-shops, children’s park area, residence of craftspeople, hostel for students, green areas, food courts, design centre, research and development centre, open-air theatre, studio for artists and exhibition hall.

The project is being undertaken with an aim to promote traditional crafts and textiles and provide local artisans with a decent opportunity to display their unique work. Senior Director Special Projects Sanaullah Aman said that five new traditional spots are being developed at the site on the directives of CDA Chairman Kamran Lashari to showcase the unique features of art and culture of all federating units of the country.

He said that initially an amount of Rs180 million was earmarked for the project but after addition of traditional spots the project would be completed by the end of this month at a cost of Rs220 million.

The initial plan was to establish the Art and Craft Village at the Saidpur Village, but after some unavoidable hurdles it was moved to its current location. An operations manager has been appointed who would take care of this traditional spot in coordination with a management team whose members will comprise senior officials of the CDA.

Sanaullah Aman said that the facility would not only help preserve traditional crafts, but also provide income generation opportunities to artisans without any involvement of middlemen.He said that it would help promote cultural diversity, strengthen the link between culture and development and safeguard both tangible and intangible cultural heritage.

Six clusters of shops have already been developed, each having five outlets, where work by artisans would be displayed, including carpet weaving and embroidery.Traditional food would be served to visitors at six food courts, especially developed keeping in view the true traditional colour of various local civilisations.

The village would also have special sections for children at different points to facilitate young visitors. In these sections, children would find all sorts of opportunities for their amusement instead of sticking to their parents during their visit to the village.

He said the site was developed with a view to housing the artisans and their shops and booths to present the rich cultural heritage of the country. The groups of artisans, to be stationed in the facility, would be replaced by new ones after every three months.

Source: The News, 26/9/2008