Female Artists Promote Nuristani Engraving in Herat

A group of artist girls in Herat are attempting to develop Nuristani engraving in this province.

Nuristani engraving originally comes from Nuristan province, which has been popular in Herat for three years.

A number of these artist girls, after being deprived of school and university, have turned to the art of engraving.

“Nuristani engraving is made by its formulas; Even its measurement has a formula and it has a certain style in general,” said Suraya Sadat, an artist.

These artists create various works of art by engraving on wood. This art, with its special elegance, requires a lot of patience.

“A lot of precision is needed for this work, which is why women and girls can do this work more easily than men. Because women are very good at this,” said Malika Sadat, an artist.

The girls who have turned to Nuristani engraving after being deprived of education, are trying to replace the feeling of being in school and university classes by participating in this workshop to some extent.

“I was a student and since the day the schools were closed, because I was very interested in engraving, that’s why I started the art of engraving,” said Madina Darwishi, an artist.

According to cultural experts, this art has a history of thousands of years and has spread from Nuristan to other parts of the country.

These artists are trying to revive Nuristani engraving like other ancient arts in Herat.