ISLAMABAD, Dec 9: Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has felicitated Sherry Rehman for winning an international award for co-authoring a book on Kashmiri shawls. The book titled Kashmiri Shawl: From Jamawar to Paisley, jointly written by Sherry Rehman and Naheed Azfar, a former head of Design Department at the National Book Foundation, has won the R.L. Shep Award from the Textile Society of America, says a press release.

Congratulating the authors the PPP chairperson said, “the book is a lasting testament to Kashmir’s glorious cultural heritage and art patronage for well over 500 years. It is a wonderful example of Pakistani achievement in the neglected field of art and culture, and is a subject that celebrates the beauty and refinement of our indigenous craft traditions”.

She expressed the hope that the award to Ms Rehman for excellence in scholarship would inspire the young people to strive for achieving distinction.

The book comprehensively documents the history and evolution of the Kashmiri shawl and its design over five centuries, its regional variations, complex structure of the embroidery, the fine detail, besides touching upon unexplored issues such as the human face of the shawl, including labour conditions involved in its making, its many transformations, its allure, variety and impact on handicraft design, the end of patronage by Indian courts, culture and the loss of empire in Awadh; comparisons with the Punjab shawl, the Amli shawl and the European challenge etc.

Ms Sherry Rehman and Naheed Azfar’s three-year-long research is illustrated with 400 coloured prints of globally archived museum pieces as well as contemporary variations universalised today. The prestigious R.L. Shep Award is given in recognition of “exceptional scholarship” in the field of ethnic textile studies.