The antique alley of Shahr Naw in Kabul is an old alley, walls with colorful patterns. Jewelry, carpet weaving and handicraft shops are located side by side in this alley. Shopkeepers are usually adult men, but many of them now have only a supervisory and supportive role after giving their jobs to their sons and grandchildren. Employers work with love and passion, and people welcome it with enthusiasm. This can be well seen in the flow of customers and the enthusiasm of goldsmiths, carpet weavers and handicraftsmen. But many who know the history of this alley are dissatisfied as it is less crowded than it was in the past. “It’s not very rainy these days,” said one goldsmith, who is about 60 years old and had started farming as a child with his father. Those were good times when Karzai had just come to power and the war was over. “It was crowded every day and we had good sales every day, now it has decreased.”
Many of the antique shop owners seem to have grown up with the door and walls of this alley, whitened their beards and lived their lives. Each is a living history of their work. One has worked for 20 years, another for 11 years and the other for 34 years… This alley has many stories; The story of a lifetime of war, where perhaps in the smoke of war, they combined emerald with silver and made jewelry.
Zargarzadeh Company in this alley is managed by Zargarzadehs. A small shop where you look around and see the reflection of different lights, sometimes green and sometimes yellow and silver. Rings made of different stones and necklaces made of emerald and ruby. Hekmatullah Zargarzadeh, who is currently in charge of the jewelry company, said: “Our mine workers extract these stones from the mine, and then after polishing them we put them in jewelry.”
At the end of the antique alley, there is a small shop in the second floor of a building that Zargarzadeh uses as a workshop. In this workshop, several people work hard all day, connecting small pieces of silver or polishing stones with small soldering machines. Hekmatullah Zargarzadeh, as the head of this company, has been facing sales problems for many years. “In the old days, when I was still a young boy, my father was a jeweler,” he says reluctantly. Our sales were good then; Because most foreigners and Americans bought from us. But after 2014, when the Americans left, our sales have decreased; Because locals don’t buy much. It was until we met “Asil” two years ago, and after working with Asil, now the situation is good and I am no longer worried about our sales. “With Asil’s help, our monthly sales are very good.”
Awal Technology Company has developed an application and a company called Asil, which helps connect Afghan artisans to international markets, online. The company aims to support small businesses, empower women and to create jobs in the country. “Asil” was launched in May 2019 and now has applications in four countries: Afghanistan, Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom.
Nusrat Khalid, founder of Asil, a computer science graduate and a successful entrepreneur. After establishing the first service and technology company, in May 2019, he created an original application with the aim of creating tens of thousands of jobs in Afghanistan’s handicrafts sector. He has worked in the field of international development worldwide over the past decade and is a well-known figure in the Government of Afghanistan and the World Bank.
Handicrafts are the most significant and original manifestation of the history and civilization of the Afghan people, it is a meaningful manifestation of the culture, art, beliefs and insights of the people of each region. Although the world has been conquered by various and up-to-date machines, Handicrafts still maintains its place among all people and this industry still has its fans. Asil, as an online platform that has been operating for two years, seeks to discover and empower small businesses that produce traditional handicrafts. Not all the original focus is on product sales, but also on the growth of artisans. In addition to creating jobs in the handicrafts sector, Asil wants to help women earn a living by joining the global workforce by providing them with opportunities to improve their skills.
Asil has a website and a mobile application through which it communicates with all its customers around the world. Nowadays, all those who have a small handicraft business, face problems in marketing their products, and sometimes many products and handicrafts remain in the hands of the manufacturers. Asil has now been able to connect small artisans to international markets. Mohammad Nasser, the technical manager of Asil Company, says: “After almost two years of operation, Asil website has 8,000 monthly views and 300 app downloads, which we were able to satisfy our customers in Afghanistan and abroad in a short period of time, most of whom are from Asia, America and England.”
Asil Company has been able to earn about $150,000 in sales in a short period of time. The company has also managed to introduce Afghan handicrafts to international markets by holding two handicraft exhibitions of Afghan artisans in the United States and the United Kingdom. “We want to create jobs for tens of thousands of people in the handicrafts sector, which will create jobs and enhance Afghanistan’s traditional handicrafts,” said Mohib Ali, the company’s marketing director. Some online sales sites have a lot of ads in their product sales section, but when the customer buys the product, it’s not of the same quality as advertised; “But so far, Asil Company has been able to satisfy its customers inside and outside Afghanistan, and the craftsmen are satisfied aswell.”
In addition to helping artisans and selling handicrafts, Asil also works with art galleries. The original founders of Asil believe that art should also be considered as part of a society’s culture, artists should be helped to create and enhance works of art. Gol Sang, Namad, Rangin Art, Sima Art, Women’s Gallery and Visual Arts Gallery of Afghanistan are some of the galleries that work with Asil Company, and according to the officials of these galleries, before working with Asil, their works were less sold and less recognized. But after collaborating with Asil company, their works havw been sold and exhibited at home and abroad.
“Asil is trying to connect small Afghan artisans from remote parts of Afghanistan to the buyers outside Afghanistan and sell their products online,” said Mohib Ali. Asil company is like Afghanistan’s point of contact with the rest of the world, from a women living in the rural areas and in the most deprived part of the country to an artist based in Kabul, they all get their share of profits by selling their products through our company. Now the world can see the delicacy of the work of a carpenter in the foothills of Bamyan, the carpet weaver family in Badakhshan and the man who makes dishes in Faryab. Asil has made it easy for people to see the arts and crafts of the people from all over the country and for the craftsmen to use their work.
One of these craftsmen is Zahra Kazemi. She is the head of Bamyan Premium Women’s Company, which started working with five people in 2003 with the help of her husband, and by 2006 had 50 employees. Bamyan Premium Women’s work include embroidery, design and sewing of Afghan clothes, it is all done by women in Bamyan. The company has created jobs for a large number of women in Bamiyan, and now these women can use their handicrafts in addition to doing their housework. Zahra Kazemi, who has participated in many handicraft fairs inside and outside Afghanistan, now works with Asil Company. After working with Asil, the number of employees of Mumtaz Bamyan Women’s Company has reached 700, 20 of whom work full-time. Zahra Kazemi says: “Since working with Asil Company, my work has flourished and all the handicrafts that women make in Bamyan by Bamyan Premium Women Company are sold well and at a good price abroad and at home with Asil’s help. “Asil is not like many companies that took pictures of our work in Kabul and then used their own, but sells our products under our own brand name.”
When Asil started in 2019, neither the government nor large private companies welcomed his work; Only a few small handicraft companies such as Bamyan Women of Excellence, Lapis Lazuli Jewelery and Karki Carpet Weaving stood by the original founders and now after two years this company has been able to become one of the most reputable companies in Afghanistan. Zahra Kazemi says: “When I decided to start cooperating with Asil, he had not even bought table and chairs for the company, and now, after two years, not only I am pleased with my decision, but I support him more and I will increase my cooperation.”
