The World Crafts Council International (WCCI) has picked Srinagar for mapping its craft clusters before its final nomination as the World Craft City (WCC) from India this year.
Key points
- WCCI is a Kuwait-based organisation working on recognition and preservation of traditional crafts across the globe.
- The annual ceremony to grant WCC status to cities across the globe is aimed at “promoting, preserving and evolving handicrafts” and “building new market linkages”.
- At present Srinagar is one of the probable cities in India.
- Srinagar has a registered artisan base of 20,822 craftsmen, who are involved in multiple disciples of papier mâché, walnut wood carving, hand-knotted carpet, Kani shawl, Khatamband, pashmina, Sozni craft etc.
- The total craft related workforce in Srinagar stands at 1.76% approximately. The contribution of the handicraft to the overall economy of J&K stood at 2.64% by 2016-17.
