Lok Virsa opens souvenir shop

Islamabad
To support master artisans in continuance and revival of their craft traditions, the National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage (Lok Virsa) on Tuesday opened a souvenir shop at the Pakistan National Museum of Ethnology (Heritage Museum).
The soft opening of the shop was performed by Lok Virsa Executive Director Shahera Shahid in the presence of Lok Virsa officers and staff.
Souvenirs which have been displayed in the first stage at the shop include horse puppets, rugs (‘tuggars’) in sheep wool, wooden (walnut) horses, ‘dupattas’ in tie and dye, ‘chunri Multani dupattas’, ceramic mugs, leather bracelets with semi precious stones, leather necklaces with semi precious stones, wall-table plates in lacquer wood work and other things.
The shop consists of craft items skilfully produced by different master artisans under the guidance of Lok Virsa Management. The colours and designs of various crafts as exhibited are based on the emblem of Lok Virsa.
Master artisans who have produced these crafts include Fauzia Naheed (traditional doll-making) from Rawalpindi, Shah Behram (taghar-weaving) from Tank, Irfan Ghulam Nabi (wood-carving) from Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gopal Das (tie and dye) from Sindh, Surraya Abdullah (chunri work) from Multan, Azeem Iqbal (leather work) from Mian Chunnu, Samiullah (lacquer art) from Dera Ismail Khan and others.
Talking to the media, the Lok Virsa executive director said: “It is for the first time in the history of Lok Virsa since its inception in 1974 that we have set up our own souvenir shop in pursuance of the mandate assigned to the institute i.e. to provide a platform to master artisans from all over Pakistan, including remote areas, to sell their products.”
Explaining the objectives of the shop, Shahera Shahid said: “It will help master artisans in continuance and revival of their craft traditions; encourage them to introduce new innovations in their techniques, designs and colours according to the modern day needs; contribute towards the alleviation of poverty among rural artisans community and pave the way for their economic empowerment through traditional skills”.
She further added that the price and quality aspect of the different crafts of the shop have been meticulously scrutinised. It is expected that the various crafts available at shop will attract the attention of both locals and foreigners.
The executive director highly applauded the efforts of Lok Virsa (Museum) Director Sajeela Naveed and her team of professionals who conceptualised the idea and built upon the shop from scratch and executed the entire task in the shortest time-frame.