ISLAMABAD:Sustainable Tourism Foundation Pakistan (STFP) is working with local community of Rohtas Fort to promote responsible community based heritage tourism with the support of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Pakistan.
STFP with the support of UNESCO, Italian Development Agency and Punjab Archaeology Department has been organizing different workshops and delivering various ways of promoting Heritage in the world and for tourists visiting Rohtas Fort, said a statement.
President STFP Aftab–ur-Rehman said that the foundation has recently organized an art workshop at Rohtas Fort for Students of local Government School. He said that students visited plein air artists working on spot inside the Fort.
“These students were members of “Rohtas Heritage Club” established by STFP under the UNESCO funded project. Huma Wasiq and Taha Wasiq were facilitating this Club since almost an year as resource persons.
He said that this time it was an excellent opportunity for these youngsters to learn from the masters of Plein air in Pakistan who visited to support our aim to support and engage local community in conservation efforts at Rohtas Fort.
Aftab said that 10 artists from different cities of the country participated in this event and each one has produced at least two to three paintings for exhibition and sale for fund raising to support the local community women.
A heritage crafts enterprise at Rohtas Fort which STFP has established to engage local women in heritage conservation and to promote responsible tourism, he added.
He thanked all the artists for taking keen interest in this project, adding that Rohtas Fort is a world heritage site located at distance of around 115 km from Islamabad.
These artists have worked at Rohtas and have also engaged local school girls in painting activity during their stay for three days.