Our Story

“Taarkash” is a joint venture of Aimal Khan Khattak and Muhsin Alam. The idea of establishing Taarkash came into being after one of the founders, Mr. Khattak while visiting a music instrument shop in Peshawar realized that all the traditional music instruments present in the shop were completely handmade. He was astonished by the amount of passion showed by those artisans towards their craft and culture, yet they have no effective presence in the popular national and international commercial arena. Mr. Khattak then came across Mr. Alam and they bonded very well over the shared admiration for cultural heritage. The founders then decided to collaborate and turn an idea into a practical venture. They decided to explore further and eventually found out that apart from music instruments, there are other artifacts that too are not only handmade but also enriched with cultural and historical values of Pashtuns including Peshawari Chappal, traditional waistcoats, jewelries, Kohati Panjdar Chappal, Pakol and Shawls, etc. These findings are the result of multiple visits by the team of Tarkaash to different parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including individual meetings with artisans from different localities. The research was further extended to interviewing various artists, traditional craft shops’ owners and cultural promotion organizations. After many successful visits and attaining adequate information, Mr. Khattak and Mr. Alam decided to initiate a venture for the promotion of the traditional crafts and the empowerment of the artisans involved in making them. The founders then together with their team laid down the foundation of “Taarkash”.