Stories woven in cloth in Pakistan’s first textile museum

Nasreen and Hasan Askari open Karachi museum with her 1,000-piece centuries-old collection from trade crossroads

As a young medical student in 1970s Pakistan, Nasreen Askari had an encounter that would shape her for ever.

After asking the mother of a sick boy routine questions about his family history, the woman looked outraged. Marching Askari outside, she took off her colourful shawl and laid it on her lap. “Most of the answers to your pointless questions are here,” she said, pointing to intricate embroidery that symbolised everything, from the woman’s community, to her marriage status and her number of children.

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