THE NEW SILK ROAD PROJECT PAKISTAN

Workshops and tour of the Government Polytechnic Institute for Women.

Shahi Hammam Royal Bath House

Lahore Fort is recognised by UNESCO as a world heritage site. Its wall exterior was built in the 1560s.

The British Council office in Lahore

As well a being the head of textiles at NCA, Iram Zai Raja is textile designer and jewellery designer. Here she models a block printed gown that she designed for an NCA ceromony.

I was invited to her home to see some of her work in progress. This is a very labour intensive hand embroidered wedding commission. 

Five Star is a family run business based in Faisalabad.  It specialises in industrial screen printing and embroidery.

Moshin Bandy is the chief executive of Bandy Carpets. Bandy Carpets are based in Lahore and they specialise in traditonal carpets made using a Jammu Kasmiri hand knotting technique. They use hand spun yarns and 80% of their carpets are coloured with natural dyes.

The craftsmen construct the carpets using an ancient Kasmiri alphabet of symbols. 

Bandy carpets also embrace contemporary design ideas. As part of their new direction they have experimented with metal yarns mixed with wool. A recent trip to South Africa has inspired Moshin Bandy to develop a new range of textiles based on the African patchwork samples shown below.