KMC imparts traditional skill to youths

Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) is imparting traditional skill to youths. The Department of Heritage and Tourism of the metropolis says that 75 young men and women are going to be trained in wood carving, pottery and weaving sukul (a mat made of hay) skills.

Federation of Handicraft Associations of Nepal (FHAN) has been collaborating with KMC to provide 45-day training to 25 people in advanced woodcarving, 15-day basic training to 25 people in pottery making and 15-day basic training to 25 people in sukul weaving.

Source close to the Department of Heritage and Tourism, informs that KMC wants to provide employment and income generation opportunities to those who participate in the skill training.

Thangka painting, making metal statues, stone carving, wood carving, pottery making are the main local skills practised in the Kathmandu Valley and other places as well. Such skills are taught generation to generation as a family occupation.

Nepal has an abundance of temples and buildings, art and crafts, music, dance, painting and more. Even in the modern days, there are skilled craftsmen who can make equally beautiful woodcarvings and intricate statues as in the past.

Araniko, a famous artist, of the late 12th century was from the Kathmandu Valley who travelled to China, and stayed there.He built famous White Stupa at the Miaoying Temple in Beijing.

At the time of increasing globalization, the conservation of the heritage of any particular region or place has become an important challenge both in academia and professionals. The practitioners are always in oscillation on whether to emphasize the growing urbanization demands or address the threat to their existing heritage. In such a dilemma, conservation-led development has appeared as a compromised discourse by improving the quality of life and creating economic benefits on one hand and guaranteeing the conservation of cultural heritage in particular intangible cultural heritage.

In recent years, there is an increase in the concern about understanding the local ways of life and festivities which have motivated the conservation of intangible heritage for example Lalitpur. The concern also contributed to the continuity of the implementation of traditional craftsmanship as a domain of intangible heritage conservation and supplemented the discourse of conservation-led development as in the case of Lalitpur. Craft generates employment opportunities without uprooting the practitioners from their local roots. On one hand, can retain our craft culture and on the other hand improve the socio-economic status of craftsmen and overall local development.

KMC conducted training programmes to impart traditional skills may be considered as an action to preserve Nepal’s glorious art and cultural traditions. (By Ram Dangol)