Near the historic Khanqah-e-Moula in Srinagar, is a small shop of copper ware of artisan Mohammad Aslam Bhat. Named Vanposh, the shop has a unique collection of copper items like a spinning wheel (yender in Kashmiri), beautifully handcrafted clocks, table lamps and other creative items made of copper. Bhat learnt the craft from his maternal grandfather Ghulam Nabi Misgar who was also a copper-smith.

There was a time when copper ware was only associated with utensils, but Bhat has been credited with breathing new life into old techniques by bringing forth new designs and products ranging from motifs of Valley based shrines to table lamps. New designs include motifs of Hazratbal and Khanqah-e-Moula shrines among others. He also makes traditional utensils like majma and handi in new designs. He got the idea of introducing innovative designs after meeting a designer at the Craft Development Institute (CDI), Srinagar, following which he got a sizable order from Noida. He gets orders and new designs through the ‘Commitment to Kashmir’ (CtoK) project under the aegis of Laila Tyabji, head of ‘Dastkar’. He has attended exhibitions and addressed seminars at Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Telangana.

He has now started getting some support from the government of Kashmir, but mostly as awareness programs, wherein he gets invited to show and teach his crafts, also to students who come to him for learning. He feels that craft is the way forward for the youth as unemployment is on the rise.

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