In Kashmir, Artist Turned Carpet-Maker, Shahnawaz Ahmad Sofi Is Reviving The Lost Art Of Pashmina Weaves

As a student of the Institute of Music and Fine Arts, Shahnawaz Ahmad Sofi was into portraits and was passionate about colours. He completed his graduation in 2003 and took up his family business of carpets and started doing something that is unheard of in Kashmir at least in the past 200 years.

He started making Pashmina carpets and says no one does it in Kashmir anymore. And there are many in the Valley who agree with him and describe his work as “unusual and unique.”

At present, he is working on a 6 feet x 9 feet single knot pashmina carpet at his Karkanah (factory) at Eidgah in the old city Srinagar. Three weavers are on the job. It will take them around 15 months to complete the carpet. Once completed, it will cost Rs 25 lakh in the market. “Pashmina carpet is a delicate work and it takes time to complete as it is single knotted work. Its knots are in Pashmina but the foundation is in silk. That is why its cost is much higher than normal silk carpets,” says Sofi.

Sofi has made some wall hanging carpets with paintings of the UAE rulers on them. He says the customers in the UAE like this sort of carpet artwork apart from calligraphic painting on the carpets. He shows a carpet of 2x3 having paintings of the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. He says he has sold many such carpets and they cost around Rs 2 lakh per piece.

“I have read that some British factories were making Pashmina carpets some 200 years ago in Srinagar. They stopped making it during the Dogra rule. And Shahnawaz is reviving that art. Though I don’t like his colour combination, I think making Pashmina carpet is appreciable and bold also,” says Yaseen Tuman, an old hand in the carpet industry of Kashmir. “I think first and foremost reason why no one was making Pashmina carpet in Kashmir is that no one has an idea how the market will react to it. Besides, the weavers are also not ready,” Tuman adds.
Sofi says his family is in the carpet business since the 1950s and he considers carpet making one of the finest arts. “I also convert my 3d work into carpets,” he says.

Initially, he started with the idea of adapting his cultural and craft paintings, his art portraits into carpets after having thorough discussion and deliberation with his father Gul Mohammad Sofi and his weavers. They reluctantly agreed.

“They were all afraid,” he says. “Pashmina raw material is costly, it takes months for weavers to come up with a small piece, there was no idea how the market will respond. They had genuine reason to be scared about the execution of the idea,” Sofi says.

He started making Quranic calligraphic paintings turning them into a small wall hanging carpets. He exported them to the gulf countries. “I got a good response and I started making a lot of products,” he adds, smiling. “I was thrilled to see the reaction of the market.”

As he got good rates on Pashmina carpets, he says he raised wages of weavers also. “I am because of my weavers. If I will not take care of them and I will not give them decent wages, I will not be in business for long. This whole carpet business is because of a weaver,” he adds.
The 2008 recession hit the carpet market adversely as foreigners who are the real connoisseurs of the craft stopped buying it. “That time I sold smaller size Pashmina carpets as luxury items. It worked even in a recession. From this year I made bigger size carpets as they have a market,” he adds showing the latest work of Pashmina carpet.

“Kashmiris who are in carpet business have to see what the world wants. We must see what modern designs are in vogue, what colours and patterns are being appreciated and liked by people and then present our work accordingly,” he says.