World Craft Council to celebrate its diamond jubilee in Srinagar

Srinagar, Oct 30: In what could be a major push towards promoting the local crafts globally, the World Craft Council (WCC) is scheduled to hold its 3-day ‘World Craft Forum’ here at SKICC after its first leg at New Delhi.

As per WCC, the landmark event is hosted here to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the World Crafts Council. The International body has scheduled ‘World Crafts Forum’ on this special occasion to be held for November 22-24 in New Delhi celebrating India’s rich craft and cultural legacy. Thereafter the celebrations will continue in Srinagar from November 25-27, offering opportunities to showcase local artisanship and craft traditions to an international audience.

In this connection, the Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo, held a meeting to give shape to the arrangements made for holding this landmark event here successfully.

During this meeting, the Chief Secretary directed for making this event a huge success which would eventually translate into giving boost to our local crafts at the global level thereby promoting the handicrafts sector in a big way.

Atal Dulloo further directed the Handicrafts Department to create necessary awareness among the concerned artisans and craftsmenhere. He asked for running these campaigns both in mainstream and social media for its far and wide publicity.

Chief Secretary asked the Divisional Administration to be in close coordination with the I&C Department to hold this event in a befitting manner. He observed that this event would also serve the purpose of promoting tourism here in J&K.

He also took this occasion for taking the assessment of the accommodation of the members of WCC and artisans coming from different countries along. He directed the Hospitality & Protocol Department to make necessary arrangements besides the transportation facilities to be extended by the Motor Garages Department. Recently the Council has declared Srinagar as World Craft City thus making it one among the 66 cities recognized by the it worldwide.

It is worth mentioning that the WCC has championed the preservation and promotion of craft traditions worldwide for nearly six decades.

It has been given out that the World Crafts Forum will be attended by around 50 international artists from different nations and craft backgrounds. This is going to foster cross-cultural exchange, empower artisans, and create sustainable development pathways for the craft sector, the meeting was apprised.

The event aims to position India at the forefront of shaping the future of crafts, while celebrating the past. It will also emphasize the restoration, preservation, and modernization of the industry, crafting a roadmap for the next decade through policy and international cooperation, being announced by WCC on its website about this event.

Besides Commissioner Secretary I&C, the meeting was attended by Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir; Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar; Director, Handicrafts & Handloom, Kashmir; Director, Tourism; Director, SMG beside and other stakeholders.