From soft pashmina and lush, hand-knotted carpets to the deep-hued walnut furniture and vibrant papier-mâché, Kashmir is rich in the arts of the hand. While global appreciation for these crafts rises, local consumer demand is at an all-time low. This disparity reflects under-appreciation within Kashmir itself—an attitude that ultimately compromises the quality of products, weakens cultural identity, and leads to adverse economic effects. This article examines the causes of this under-appreciation and its profound consequences.

Familiarity blindness is the inability to recognise the detail, or miss the value, in objects or environments one is very familiar with. When there are hand-knotted carpets in every Kashmiri home and crewel-embroidered curtains in everyone’s bedroom, they can start to feel like part of the ordinary background, rather than cultural works of art. This daily exposure often makes people........

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