SRINAGAR, Feb 11: The Jammu and Kashmir government has launched an exchange programme under which design students from across the country will visit the valley for an interaction with the craftsmen in the state.“We want a sustained relationship to be built between the designers and craftsmen. They are the best medium for ensuring transmission of latest trends and designs to the craftsman so that they up their game and be relevant as per the latest market trends,” Director Handicrafts Mahmood Shah said.As part of this endeavour, 52 students from the School of Fashion Technology, Pune visited the School of Designs, Srinagar for the first of its kind interaction between designers and craftsmen.“Kashmir is known more for its physical beauty and not as much for crafts. It’s time that the crafts (of Kashmir) be given due recognition,” Shah said.“Lots of educational institutions are finding crafts more interesting. In this context, it is a first such exchange programme in which students from Pune have come here for a craft tour,” he said.
