Meet Kashmir’s bone artist who charms people with his artworks

Creativity knows no bounds and that is what Kashmir’s self-taught bone artist Aziz-ul-Rehman proves. This inventive craftsman turns bones into artworks.

Talking to the media he said that he was always interested in art since his childhood and that he made paintings, carvings and sketches. With the passage of time he became interested in bone art and that led him to make small objects initially.

What is truly amazing about him is that he is a self-taught artist though he admits that social media did help him in honing his skills. This resident of Gulabagh, which is situated on the outskirts of Srinagar, at the beginning made earrings and pendants from bones and then slowly graduated to other products. The lockdown due to Covid-19 pandemic enabled him to get better in this art.

Now Rehman uses bones to make necklaces, ornaments, candles, earrings, brush and pen holders, knives, key chains, earrings and jewellery stands, and other decorative and wall pieces.

Interestingly, the artist never had to spend any money on raw materials – bones — as he gets them free of cost. Explaining this, he said he did not have any problem in supply of bones because Kashmir is a meat-eating area.

Besides pursuing art, Rehman is doing Masters in Fisheries Science at the Faculty of Fisheries in Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology.

With people gradually coming to know about his work, the demand for his art has increased. It is not just the people of Jammu and Kashmir but also other parts of India who have been ordering products from him.

Recently he held the first state-level bone art exhibition in Srinagar which was facilitated by the Department of Handicrafts and Handlooms Kashmir. Enthused by the response, he now plans to hold more such shows in the region and outside.