No respect for creative artisans

Ambreen Fatima regrets lack of patronage

Ambreen Fathima, 22 a handcrafter blessed with great flair of making handy dolls, door bell decorations, straw wall hangings, sculptures, and vincharms.

It’s not only she who has been doing this but her mother has been with her as an inspirational force as well.

The evolution of this art was from her mother. It has been 20 years that her mother is attached to this field. “It has been 4 years that I have joined this field. As it helped in maintaining our dignity and respect hence we started to expand our business. I have been erecting such stalls in various spots. Moreover, I have also been giving my handcrafts in shops. I was rewarded with a prize for the proficiency which I had made in my craft,” said Ambreen Fatima.

Basically we are from Bani Mohalla Rawalpindi however now we are residing in a room at G-10 due to financial crisis. This was our passion but we never wanted to adopt it as a mean of earning.

A handy doll almost takes a day to be completed. The materials don’t cost us much but it consumes a lot of time. Simple dolls require 2-3 days and are sold on around Rs300-400. The price depends on dolls. There are varieties of dolls created such as Balochistan, Indian, Cholistani, and Kashmiri etc. These dolls are sold for almost Rs700 as they require more effort.

They want people to appreciate their work and pay the price that is worth it their art and effort. They want people not to just buy it but they do not see the effort that goes into making it. Talent is not meant to be sold but at times life brings people at such helpless moments that they have no other choice except selling it. Such people want to be rewarded for the ability.