Handicrafts

Craft means an activity which involves skills and hard work of a man who mainly works by hands. Crafts are the products which are either of daily use or used for decorative purposes. The individual who involves in making the craft is know as artisan or craftsman. Handicrafts are the products of high value because they have the essence of that particular region in which it is made. The handicraft is the cultural identity of its region. It portrays the sense of belonging to that place where it is being made with love and hard work of a craftsman. But now with the rise in industrialization these crafts have lost their importance. The main reasons of decline of crafts are 1) They are expensive as compare to industrial product, 2) They are time

The crafts are the portrait of their surrounding region. These are the products inspired by their cultural values and environment. The colours, designs and pattern used to make a particular crafts is depicting its environment. The craftsman tries to incorporate the scenic beauty and colours of the region where he is living in the craft he makes. Mostly women craft their love to their families in their craft they are making. The handicrafts are the pride of every nation. They reflects the culture and lifestyles of the places. Some crafts show the mix culture of different regions. Handicrafts expresses the sheer love of a craftsman towards its crafts and the place where he lives. It is the combination of skills, love, culture and attachment towards the region. Richard Sennett says in his book, The Craftsman: “The emotional rewards craftsmanship holds out for attaining skill are two fold: people are anchored in tangible reality and they can take pride in their work.” These handicrafts passes from generation to generations as a precious and valuable heritage and asset of that family or tribe. Crafts are of two types: Tangible and Intangible. Tangible crafts are the crafts which can be touched and feel. They are in the form of products like pottery, woven fabrics, Woodworks, utensils etc whereas Intangible crafts are the crafts which portrays the culture but cannot be touched like folk dances, songs

Pakistan is a country which is rich in handicrafts and some crafts belongs to this region from before the existence of Pakistan. Theses crafts were once the identity of Pakistani culture and the source of livelihood for the craftsman. It was the source of bonding between the people and brought them near to each other. But unfortunately with the rise in industrialization these crafts started to fade and people now attracted more towards the mass produced products available in the market. Industrialization is one of the main factor of the decline of crafts industry. People are working day and night so that they could buy those luxuries available in the market. But nobody bothers to buy the art pieces of these hardworking craftsman. The reasons behind this are the availability of mass production products, secondly the lack of education of craftsman, thirdly lack of design and color sense, the taste of people have changed with the time, the artisans refused to learn the new techniques, some have abandoned their crafts because of having no value and not having any financial benefit in it. The children of the craftsmen also refuses to learn the skills because of having no value. Most of the crafts are dying which once were the identity of Pakistan. They are living below the poverty line which rises the suicide and death rates, and poverty rate has also been