Documenting The Lost Art Of Folk Toys In Punjab

Held at the Alhamra Arts Council in Lahore, Pakistan, last week, the exhibition, ‘Toys: Definitions of Childhood,’ highlighted the some of the country’s most beloved crafts and the craftspeople behind them.

Spearheaded by Waqas Manzoor, a multidisciplinary artist, and curated by Aasim Akhtar, a well-known art critic, the exhibition showcased an assortment of photography by Manzoor, including detailed inscriptions of the artisans and their work spread across the gallery’s walls.

In addition to the artist’s vivid photography, certain sections of the gallery showcased an assortment of toys too: from the charming Ghughoo Ghoray (toy horses made out of recycled materials), handmade clay animals and miniature vessels, the exhibition was a treat for visitors who delighted in picking up and interacting with the craft pieces.

However, while deeply nostalgic in its overall theme, one couldn’t help but feel a tinge of melancholy too.

For one, the folk toys – once widely popular and easily accessible – are now a fast-disappearing art form due to the perils of globalization and technological progress. Hence, traditional art forms have suffered enormously thanks to a dependency on mass production and an edging away from slow-crafted artisanal products.

Secondly, the exhibition was a stark reminder of the economic struggles of the artisans and how they’ve endured to keep their ancestral crafts alive, amidst severe financial scarcity.

“The craft survives because those creating them stand true to their art,” states Manzoor, who has been documenting the craft of local folk toys since 2021. However, the task of finding toymakers in the city wasn’t particularly easy given the fact that the number of skilled artisans has dwindled in recent years.

“It took me quite a while to trace their localities from Thokar Niaz Baig on one end, to the banks of River Ravi on the other, until I found a family of toymakers in Shahdara, Lahore,” he reveals.

“I’ve spent a lot of time listening to these toymakers and all of them state that the toys require a lot of labor. Some pieces often take 2-3 days to complete. Given that the toys are sold at nominal prices, the toymakers can barely make their ends meet, therefore they’re forced to pick up other work on the side,” he says.

“The craft is disappearing. Unfortunately, we haven’t paid much attention to the art of toymaking…we don’t even regard their practice as a craft!”

Currently working on putting together a long-form documentary on the subject, Manzoor states that he fell in love with the art of folk toys because of their raw and colorful nature, including the fact that they’re made from sustainable materials.

“Machine-made toys simply don’t carry the same depth and beauty as handmade toys do…I’m fascinated by the craft. I feel there’s an urgent need to document this ancestral art form before it becomes completely extinct.”