This exhibition, made in cooperation with Lok Virsa (National Institute of Folk & Traditional Heritage) in Islamabad, shows magnificent wedding costumes from different regions in Pakistan.
Wedding costumes have a particular position among the formal clothes, and are created in tension between local traditions, cultural creativity and external influences. Regional specificity is apparent, while influence from a shared history and cultural heritage is visible as well. The exhibition also introduces the various ceremonies and rituals of wedding, through photos, film and selected artifacts.
Living Tradition
Wedding costumes are chosen according to local norms, contemporary fashion trends and the family’s social position and ethnicity. Pakistani costume practices of today can be traced back to the Mogul Empire (1526-1857), but have also changed with local creativity, internal processes of change, and external influences. The costumes of the bride and groom will sometimes be especially embellished and meticulously worked versions of everyday clothes, such as shalwar kameez. This is a type of folk dress used both by men and women in large areas of Pakistan. Certain wedding costumes include pieces of clothing that are no longer in everyday use. The man’s coat sherwani is one example of clothing that has been in continuous use but has gradually ceased being daily wear. The trousers gharara were used in the Mogul Empire, and have in later years become a popular part of the wedding clothes in certain parts of Pakistan.
In the creation of wedding costumes, inspiration is also taken from everyday clothes used in other areas, or by certain population groups. Laacha is a wraparound skirt used by bridegrooms in urban areas. This is a meticulously worked version of an everyday piece of clothing among men in rural areas, then usually called lunghi or dhoti.
Clothing types from other countries have in some periods been very popular, both as everyday clothing and as formal wear, before going out of use again. Local traditions live on even though there is increasing pressure from an increasingly globalised world