NURESTANI CHIP CARVING – A TASTER.

Lazo Studios, an art, design, and wood crafting atelier that fuses Eastern traditions with contemporary Western designs. In this workshop they will take you on a journey to the remote tribal regions of Afghanistan. Formerly known as Kafiristan (Land of the Infidels), Nuristan is a remote mountainous part of Eastern Afghanistan, where several ancient tribes have lived and flourished in isolation. They are thought to be relics of an original Indo- European population secluded in the mountains up until the 1890s when they were forced by the then Afghan Emir, to convert to Islam. It is at this time that the region became known as Nuristan (Land of Light). As pagans with their own ancient belief system, they developed their own chip carving techniques using simple tools and local timber from the surrounding forests.

The resulting simple geometric patterns imbued with symbolic meanings, when executed with discipline and restraint have particular appeal to contemporary taste. In this workshop you will learn some of the basic alphabet of Nuristani carving and will get a chance to carve your own unique small cheese boards under the guidance of the partners at Lazo Studios.