SHOPPER'S WORLD;

Kashmir's Heritage: Art of Papier-Mache

 

By BARBARA CROSSETTE; BARBARA CROSSETTE is head of the Times bureau in New Delhi.           Published: June 11, 1989

 

 

The Syeds export most of their pieces to Canada and Europe.

 

THE family has no retail outlets of its own in Kashmir, except for a small showroom on the grounds adjoining Butt's Clermont Houseboats at the upper end of Dal Lake.

 

High-quality papier-mache pieces from workshops like the Syeds' are on sale at Kashmir state government shops in Srinagar and New Delhi. In the capital, there are two Kashmiri showrooms, at 5 Prithviraj Road, near the Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi 110011, and at 7A Emporium Complex, Baba Kharak Singh Marg, off Connaught Place, New Delhi 110001.

 

 

Papier-mache items from Syed Murtaza, Srinagar; Syed worker with vase; women decorating items (Barbara Crossette) (pg. 12); multicolored boxes, about $5 each (Agence France-Presse) (pg. 28)