Srinagar designated as World Craft City by World Crafts Council

SRINAGAR — The government as well as the artisan community of the valley have hailed the World Crafts Council for recognizing Srinagar as a World Craft City.

A letter from the World Crafts Council accessed by the news agency KNO reveals that the capital city Srinagar has been recognised as a ‘World Craft City’.

“On behalf of Mr Saad al-Qaddumi, World Craft Council AISBL, President, the WCC AISBL Executive Board, the WCC Sub-committee, and the jury members, we extend our heartfelt congratulations to the government, the citizens and the craftspeople of the Srinagar City (India) as a WCC-World Craft City,” the letter said.

“This designation has been approved by the WCL AISBL, Executive Board and the WCC Sub-committee members based on the evaluation report submitted by the jurors,” it added.

Director of Handicrafts and Handloom Kashmir, Mahmood Ahmad Shah said that the government received the certificate from WCC on Sunday. He said the government had applied for the title back in 2021 following which the council inducted inspections within the city.

“In April this year, the team of the World Crafts Council visited Srinagar. After inspection, they went back and submitted a report to the World Crafts Council. Yesterday, we received a certificate of World Craft City,” Shah said.

“The good thing is that we got recognition both in textile and non-textile crafts,” he stated and added the title will promote the city as the world craft destination, thereby benefiting the entire industry.

“It will help us project Srinagar as an international craft destination. People from different parts of the world will come over here to see the craft,” he said.

Meanwhile, the artisan community is jubilant, saying their hard work and efforts from the government “finally bore fruits”.

“This is really good news for the artisan community of Kashmir. After UNESCO’s Creative City title, this is the second biggest achievement for our city. This is going to benefit the artisans’ community in the long run. It will lead to the boom in the craft and will promote our valley for its historic crafts,” Musadiq Shah, Senior Vice-President Kashmir Pashmina Organisation said.

He said the recognition will help the government as well the stakeholders in reviving various ancient and historic crafts of Kashmir.