#delveintopakistan #ajrak #sindhi
Ajrak, one of the most recognisable visual symbols of Sindh, has been part of the province's culture for the last five centuries. Once a ubiquitous style of block printing for textiles, Ajrak has become harder to produce over the years due to the high prices of chemicals and organic colors used to make the prints. Many small-scale ajrak printing businesses have shut down and hand-made products are now being produced by machines. Still, people love the traditional ajrak style, and the value of these authentic styles has increased.
In Bhit shah and Tando Muhammad khan, there used to be more than 200 small-scale ajrak printing units. But due to the increased price of materials and labor shortages, almost all these businesses have closed. One unit -- run by a man and ten labourers -- remains operational. However, the prospects for this business are also uncertain; Many of the labourers feel they are underpaid for their long days of work and are considering searching for jobs somewhere else. Since they only have experience in ajrak printing, some of them feel stuck.
The history of Ajrak dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization, which existed between 2,500 and 1,500 BC. People living during this time began cultivating cotton to make textiles and clothing. They mastered the art of making the fabrics and dyed them using indigo and other natural dyes. Because of its shared roots in the Indus Valley Civilization, ajrak is popular in parts of Gujrat and South Punjab, in India. The process of block printing takes time and skill, which many craftsmen learned through decades of practice.
The owner of the business, yasir Ali, took over the trade from his father who learned how to make ajrak from his grandfather. He started training him on how to make the product. Once he became skilled at making ajrak.Turning raw cloth into colorful ajrak isn’t easy, Yasir Ali said. First, he buys raw white cloth from markets in Faisalabad, Karachi, and Hyderabad, and dies the cloth yellow, which acts as a base color.
TO BUY AJRAK FROM YASIR ALI = 03012562087