Karim suggests setting-up  of craft centre in Kuching  

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Abdul Karim checking out the crafts on display at the Sarawak Craft Council Office, Gallery and Retail Outlets yesterday with his wife Zuraini (right) and Wee (centre). — Photo by Muhammad Rais Sanusi

KUCHING: Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah wants Kuching to have its own proper craft centre soon following the city being declared as a World Craft City in 2018.

This was despite the city already having the Sarawak Craft Council Office, Gallery and Retail Outlets at the Sarawak Steamship Building at Kuching Waterfront.

“We actually consider the Sarawak Craft Council Office, Gallery and Retail Outlets as just an office where tourists can come and buy Sarawkian crafts, but this place will act as a centre for crafts, for now. The Sarawak Craft Council Office, Gallery and Retail Outlets is however located in the heart of the city after all,” he said at the venue’s opening ceremony yesterday.

Sarawak will be able to promote its traditional crafts even better as the centre will not only be dedicated to selling Sarawakian crafts, but will also be a place for visitors to learn more on these crafts and how they are made, he added.

The new craft centre is expected to be completed around 2022 as the government is still identifying a suitable location.

“Apart from realising that Kuching is in need of a proper craft centre and the state government has taken up the challenge to build it, it also has to be in a strategic place in the city where it can be accessed easily by everyone. We want this place to be an iconic place for Kuching too,” Abdul Karim said.

The new centre might utilise an existing building.

Kuching was declared by The World Craft Council as a World Craft City in 2018 and the recognition was officially announced in March 2019.

It came after active engagement by the state’s Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture and Society Atelier Sarawak with the World Craft Council.

“It (the award) recognises Kuching’s and Sarawak’s rich diversity of traditional handicrafts in the form of beads, textile, natural fibers, ceramics and wood. We should be very proud of all these unique arts, cultures and skills in making these intricate handicraft products with distinctive unique motifs and features of Sarawak,” said the minister.

The opening ceremony yesterday, he added, was a beginning leading to bigger things.

For a start, the Sarawak Steamship Building will be handed over by Kuching North City Commission (DBKU) to the  Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry soon.

“The capacity of the building programmes will be revamped, with collaboration of various agencies, for a more effective curriculum to increase the number of producers and product quality. Sarawak Craft Council (SCC) is training about 200 producers annually in production and business skills,” he said.

By 2030, Abdul Karim is hoping to increase the number of highly skilled active producers from the current 1,000 to 2,000, and sales from RM32 million in 2019 to RM80 million in 2030 for the state. His ministry is also proposing for the Sarawak Craft Council Ordinance to establish a more effective and structured body to plan and develop the craft industry.

“In this regard, my ministry and SCC are working with the State Attorney’s Office to make the Sarawak Craft Council Bill and we hope to submit it to the State Legislative Assembly by the end of this year,” he said.

The SCC was established under the State Executive Council.

Also present during the ceremony were Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department (Native Laws and Customs) Datuk John Sikie Tayai, Abdul Karim’s wife Datin Zuraini Abdul Jabbar and Kuching South City Council (MBKS) mayor Dato Wee Hong Seng.