In Kashmir, Artist Turned Carpet-Maker, Shahnawaz Ahmad Sofi Is Reviving The Lost Art Of Pashmina Weaves

As a student of the Institute of Music and Fine Arts, Shahnawaz Ahmad Sofi was into portraits and was passionate about colours. He completed his graduation in 2003 and took up his family business of carpets and started doing something that is unheard of in Kashmir at least in the past 200 years.

He started making Pashmina carpets and says no one does it in Kashmir anymore. And there are many in the Valley who agree with him and describe his work as 바카라�unusual and unique.바카라�

At present, he is working on a 6 feet x 9 feet single knot pashmina carpet at his Karkanah (factory) at Eidgah in the old city Srinagar. Three weavers are on the job. It will take them around 15 months to complete the carpet. Once completed, it will cost Rs 25 lakh in the market. 바카라�Pashmina carpet is a delicate work and it takes time to complete as it is single knotted work. Its knots are in Pashmina but the foundation is in silk. That is why its cost is much higher than normal silk carpets,바카라� says Sofi.

Sofi has made some wall hanging carpets with paintings of the UAE rulers on them. He says the customers in the UAE like this sort of carpet artwork apart from calligraphic painting on the carpets. He shows a carpet of 2x3 having paintings of the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. He says he has sold many such carpets and they cost around Rs 2 lakh per piece.

바카라�I have read that some British factories were making Pashmina carpets some 200 years ago in Srinagar. They stopped making it during the Dogra rule. And Shahnawaz is reviving that art. Though I don바카라�t like his colour combination, I think making Pashmina carpet is appreciable and bold also,바카라� says Yaseen Tuman, an old hand in the carpet industry of Kashmir. 바카라�I think first and foremost reason why no one was making Pashmina carpet in Kashmir is that no one has an idea how the market will react to it. Besides, the weavers are also not ready,바카라� Tuman adds.
Sofi says his family is in the carpet business since the 1950s and he considers carpet making one of the finest arts. 바카라�I also convert my 3d work into carpets,바카라� he says.

Initially, he started with the idea of adapting his cultural and craft paintings, his art portraits into carpets after having thorough discussion and deliberation with his father Gul Mohammad Sofi and his weavers. They reluctantly agreed.

바카라�They were all afraid,바카라� he says. 바카라�Pashmina raw material is costly, it takes months for weavers to come up with a small piece, there was no idea how the market will respond. They had genuine reason to be scared about the execution of the idea,바카라� Sofi says.

He started making Quranic calligraphic paintings turning them into a small wall hanging carpets. He exported them to the gulf countries. 바카라�I got a good response and I started making a lot of products,바카라� he adds, smiling. 바카라�I was thrilled to see the reaction of the market.바카라�

As he got good rates on Pashmina carpets, he says he raised wages of weavers also. 바카라�I am because of my weavers. If I will not take care of them and I will not give them decent wages, I will not be in business for long. This whole carpet business is because of a weaver,바카라� he adds.
The 2008 recession hit the carpet market adversely as foreigners who are the real connoisseurs of the craft stopped buying it. 바카라�That time I sold smaller size Pashmina carpets as luxury items. It worked even in a recession. From this year I made bigger size carpets as they have a market,바카라� he adds showing the latest work of Pashmina carpet.

바카라�Kashmiris who are in carpet business have to see what the world wants. We must see what modern designs are in vogue, what colours and patterns are being appreciated and liked by people and then present our work accordingly,바카라� he says.