PWCF and Turquoise Mountain funding partnership supports Afghan artisans

Founded by His Majesty King Charles III, Turquoise Mountain works to revive historic sites and traditional crafts - providing jobs, skills and a renewed sense of pride across Afghanistan, Myanmar and the Middle East.

PWCF has proudly supported Turquoise Mountain for many years. Most recently, we have provided a grant of £450,000 to support artisan communities in Afghanistan who are still creating beautiful carpets and other traditional crafts, despite the political changes of the last two years. Across rural Afghanistan, the charity has been helping carpet weavers, a traditionally female industry (over 95% of weavers are women). Prior to the Taliban takeover, these women provided approximately 50% of their household’s income. In most cases, this is now 100% – in Afghanistan’s devastated economy, carpet weaving is a lifeline.

Mahya, a carpet weaver supported by the charity, said ‘One of the most important changes in our lives is the income that the Turquoise Mountain project provides for us’. In 2022, when communities were facing huge hardship due to the changing political context, PWCF’s funding enabled Turquoise Mountain to provide hundreds of emergency winter aid supply packages (including basic foodstuffs, blankets and fuel) to carpet weaver households in the Bamiyan Valley and 240 boys and girls returned to primary school to continue to receive an education.

Last week, His Majesty joined Turquoise Mountain to tour the newly-reopened Leighton House Museum in Holland Park, London. The King viewed a suite of specially commissioned furniture by Turquoise Mountain, which has been handmade for the museum by Syrian and Jordanian artisans based in Amman, who His Majesty met while visiting the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in 2021. You can read more about that visit here.

You can learn more about Turquoise Mountain’s work by visiting their website here.