Awantipora, Oct 9: In its effort to give fresh lease of life to the dying art of pottery in this town, the Islamic University of Science and Technology (IUST) is organizing a two day workshop ‘Re-shaping Kashmiri Pottery’ here from Tuesday. 
 The Mantaqi Center for Science and Society IUST is the main organizer of the event with coordination from the School of Business Studies, IUST and Rahim Greens.
 The organizers say that the traditional art of pottery is “dying fast” in Kashmir as most of the people use its replacements including plastic or steel for their daily use.
 “In Awantipora, the younger generation is shying away from the pottery craft as their elders have failed to carve out their living out from this activity. The workshop will revive and reignite the tradition”, the organizers said.
 “The inspiration for conducting the workshop is the documentation and radio stories done by Journalism students on plight of artisans in Awantipora”, they said.
 Coordinator Community Relation Shazia Shafi said the involvement of students with the community started with the opening of community cum campus radio studio. “To continue the endeavor of engaging community for development, the University is holding different workshops,” she said.
 She said the students of School of Business Studies would present a marketing plan for potters to revive it.
 “The objective is to establish a link between preference, professional application and marketability of the pottery items”, said Mir Annayat, an MBA student.
 Asima Altaf, another management student believes that the pottery products could be made preferable by re-introduction giving new decor and shape to the items.
 “To inculcate a sense of currency in the trade, the promotion and publicity material can be used with a brand name and catchy tagline”, she said.
 The workshop includes address by a teacher of philosophy and art hobbyist Dr Jyoti Singh, and a demonstration by a local master potter, Muhammad Rajab.
 Shazia said the workshop trainers would give an overview of Kashmir pottery and teach fresh techniques to participants. “It’ll help them to introduce innovative designs to make their items more attractive and preferable for the consumers,” she said.
 Besides, the Documentary film screening, experience sharing by potters, presentation on marketing plans by MBA students, hand on training and pottery competition for students would be part of the workshop, the organizers informed.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 9 Oct 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 9 Oct 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 10 Oct 2011 00:00:00 IST