AL-JAZEERA (20/3/2018)
Kashmir has a rich tradition of artisan culture. Intricate woodcarvings, colourful papier-mache and exquisite cashmere scarfs made the Himalayan valley renowned for its fine handcrafts.
Cashmere scarfs are usually embroidered with flowers and birds, but the artists Mahum Shabir and Mir Suhail wanted to challenge conventional representations of Kashmir and its crafts by designing scarfs with barbed wire and guns.
In 2011, the artists founded Crafted in Kashmir, a project aimed at promoting cultural expression and creative resistance by incorporating symbols of violence into traditional Kashmiri textiles.
The combination of flowers and barbed wire embroidered on hand-loomed scarfs might be unsettling for outsiders, but in Kashmir, one of the most militarised regions in the world, it is something most people have grown accustomed to.
In springtime, almond blossoms fill the parks of Kashmir, and in autumn chinar trees spread bright-coloured leaves. But armed soldiers, military checkpoints and barbed wire are there all year round (…)