ISLAMABAD: An exhibition held at the Nomad Art Gallery blended together fashion, art and history to create a line of jewellery inspired by the ancient Indus Valley civilisation.

Designed by Amna Shariff, there were seven series in the entire line, each with its own charming name and fictional mythology. Each series corresponded with a unique aspect of Harappan history and mythology, and the materials used were the same as those used in ancient Harappan jewellery.

For example, ‘The high priest and the peepal tree’ was a series of ornaments featuring stamped silver shaped like the peepal leaf. According to Ms Shariff, the peepal leaf is believed to have been sacred to the ancient civilisation.

All of the pieces featured accents of silver, Ms Shariff having been a designer of silver jewellery for over 15 years. Most of the pieces also included beads made of carnelian, turquoise, lapis lazuli, coral and clay. They clay used in the pieces was Harappan clay, which Ms Shariff said was “beautiful to work with”.

Ms Shariff said the symbols depicted in the line included the tree of life, the peepal tree and its leaf, and the unicorn. “There’s a whole series of unicorns that I’ve done, and [a clay piece in the series] was made by a Harappan craftsman - so there’s a connection between them and here, in Islamabad.”

She added that the S-shaped double spiral, which she recreated in the ‘Sindhu, Mighty Sindhu!’ series, “was a very typical motif in the jewellery that they used to make.” She added: “Turquoise, lapis, carnelian are the stones they used to use in their jewellery, and other crafts also.”

When asked how she came up with the idea for the line, Ms Shariff said: “I’ve been wanting to do this for years now. My inspiration has always been the Indus Valley civilisation, and I thought it’s kind of my duty to come and recreate those designs and keep them alive in one way or the other.”

“We are all from the Indus Valley civilisation… I’ve made history more accessible for us to carry around and wear and relate to,” she explained.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2016