Twenty two year-old Aziz-ul Rehman, from the Gulab Bagh area of Srinagar, is among the first few youths in Jammu and Kashmir who have mastered the art of making various decorative items by carving animal bones. Aziz’s handmade bone ornaments are getting a lot of attention on social media, and a lot of enthusiasts even buy them.
Aziz, who is studying in the Department of Fisheries, was inspired by videos of such art on social media. During Covid lockdown, he regularly painted different types of images on the bones to turn them into works of art. He has slowly mastered the art of bone carving.
For background, the art of making different things from animal bones is called bone crafting. Such an art practice is unique in Kashmir. The traditional focus of this art is on the finer design elements such as embroidery, Kani weaving, and carpet weaving. For Aziz-ul Rehman, working with bone and wood and creating unique items from them is a passion.
He says that one should be careful in carving things from bones as they are very brittle and if you put pressure on them, they will break. He says that acquiring tools and equipment for this art form is a one-time investment that you don’t need to update regularly. He added that the raw materials for his art, namely bones, were available freely in Kashmir. He usually collects bones from butcher shops that give them to him for free. He does admit that the entire process of collecting bones and then turning them into art pieces is a lengthy process and takes time. He claims that he is the first Kashmiri youth of the said art, but masses in Kashmir are not yet attracted to this art but with each passing day the interest is increasing.