Founder`s Message

HUNARMANDAN was born from lived experience, collective memory, and an urgent need to protect what was quietly disappearing around us.

I come from Madaklasht, Chitral a place rich in heritage, skill, and ancestral wisdom. For generations, our communities thrived through craft, livestock, shared grazing lands, and cultural practices that bound economy, ecology, and identity together. I grew up witnessing how creativity was not a hobby, but a way of life how wool from our sheep, hands of our women, and knowledge passed down through elders sustained families with dignity and pride.

Over time, I also witnessed loss.

The closure of charagahs, shifting environmental regulations, market exploitation, and unchecked capitalism began to erode indigenous livelihoods. Traditional crafts lost access to raw materials, artisans lost markets, and cultural knowledge especially women’s knowledge was pushed to the margins. What once sustained us became labeled as “unviable,” “outdated,” or “informal.”

HUNARMANDAN was established on 9 April 2022 as a response to this reality.

As a non-governmental organization and a cultural movement, HUNARMANDAN exists to ensure that artisans and hunarmand from underserved communities are not left behind in Pakistan’s changing socio economic landscape. Our work is rooted in the belief that heritage is not frozen in the past it is living, adaptive, and capable of shaping the future when supported with respect, equity, and opportunity.

Through HUNARMANDAN and HunarMarket, we work to revive, preserve, and responsibly modernize traditional crafts while safeguarding their authenticity and cultural integrity. We focus on capacity building, ethical entrepreneurship, digital inclusion, education, and access to fair markets so artisans can sustain their livelihoods without compromising who they are.

At the heart of our work are women artisans.

This organization is deeply inspired by the life, resilience, and creative mastery of Master Artisan Gul Sher from Madaklasht, whose lifelong dedication to craft represents countless women across Pakistan whose cultural labor has remained invisible for far too long. HUNARMANDAN stands as a tribute to them and as a platform to ensure their skills, voices, and leadership shape the creative economy of tomorrow.

Digitally, we are building bridges connecting communities with global networks of partners, researchers, donors, and allies while remaining grounded in local realities. Inclusiveness, accessibility, and scalability guide every initiative we design, ensuring that development does not extract from communities but strengthens them from within.

HUNARMANDAN is more than an organization.
It is a commitment to dignity, to cultural justice, and to the belief that when heritage is respected and livelihoods are supported, communities do not just survive they thrive.

I invite you to walk with us, learn with us, and stand with the artisans whose hands carry Pakistan’s living heritage into the future.

With solidarity and hope,

Gul Sher
Founder & Executive
HUNARMANDAN | HunarMarket