Thursday 17 September 2009 - 03:32 PM
By Andrew Bossone
Between worn, brick walls and beneath thatched, wooden roofs, ceramics makers in Old Cairo create pottery just as the ancient Egyptians did. Clay blocks still come from Aswan, where the pharaohs extracted minerals for tombs, monuments and crafts. The pottery is still handmade, formed on a workshop assembly line and then cooked in a kiln, but some things change with time.
"It's the same system that the pharaohs used. Only now the market demand is different," said Ibrahim Qurani, 46, a pottery maker since he was ten years old.
Under the threat of foreign imports and a slumping global economy, this old craft could crumble like the clay powder from which it originates. Despite an uncertain future, work continues.
Construction by the Egyptian government, with support from the United Nations and the Italian government, has been ongoing for several years to create a new village of workshops and homes for local craftsmen and their families.
In addition to improved working and living conditions in new buildings, the area could also benefit from increased exposure to tourists. The construction is taking place in a small valley known as Butn el-Baqara and Sha' el-Taa'ban, or the "Belly of the Cow" and "Crack of the Snake," respectively, up the road from Egypt's oldest mosque and most famous churches and synagogue.
Although local artisans look forward to moving, they are beginning to wonder when it will happen. Locals told Al-Masry Al-Youm they expect the government to demolish their current buildings following Eid after Ramadan. They are concerned the new buildings will not be finished on time.
"Every revolution has its victims," Qurani said. "The government has a vision to turn all of this into Fatimid-style buildings with domes."
If they are forced to close shop without a new location, they said they would have to look for work elsewhere, in similar workshops in Cairo and Fayoum, or make ends meet as taxi drivers.
The office of the Cairo Governorate told Al-Masry Al-Youm it had no knowledge of plans to move ceramics workers after the Eid, but said that marble workers might join the new village soon. The village has about 30 functioning workshops, according to local sources.
As they wait for their next move, the artisans keep churning out rows of vases, water fountains, tables in the shapes of animals and wall lamps, or ableek, as they always have. But they are concerned about change, even if it could be for the better.
Workers in the ceramic industry make between LE 15 and LE 50 per week depending on their skill level. A young child who carries objects or makes tea and coffee earns a weekly wage of about LE 15, while an experienced pottery maker earns more based on output. A skilled pottery maker in Scotland makes more than 400 British pounds per week, or about 75 times their Egyptian counterparts, according to a Scottish government website.
Egyptian ceramics makers begin at a young age. Qurani said children learn the trade more easily, as he praised a 17-year-old who started working when he was ten, just as Qurani did. "There is a good relationship between him and the cast. He loves it," Qurani said.
Despite an artistic sense cultivated for thousands of years, Egyptian ceramics makers say their trade is increasingly forced to compete with imports. "It's not hard work for the importers," said Mamdouh Abu Islam, who owns a ceramics shop. "Here, the owner works [in the workshop] just like my brother does. He pays the workers, whether they're family or not and he sells the objects."
Samy Fattah, a ceramics importer and wholesaler, says business has suffered this year in sectors related to gifts and home decorations because of the ailing international economy, making competition more difficult. Fattah sells most of his items to tourist bazaars, so declining tourism numbers and tighter wallets have hurt his business. Although he will not complete his accounting books until the end of 2009, he expects sales will have declined this year by more than 30 per cent.
"You can easily feel there is a problem all around the world," said Fattah, who travels to several countries each year for his company Eximport.
Egyptian ceramic imports usually come from China, Morocco and Palestine. Chinese factories tend to produce cooking bowls common to Egyptian kitchens, while the Palestinian and Moroccan ceramics include artisan dishes and vases.
"People love the handmade objects," said Hassan Fouad, who has sold hand painted plates from Palestine in Khan el-Khalili for seven years. "The foreigners like it more than Arabs, and they pay."
These types of ceramic dishes, which are white and painted with multi-colored patterns, became so successful with tourists that another shop in Khan el-Khalili called Mizar El Fishawy opened its own factory in Fayoum two years ago. The quality of the dishes equals their Palestinian counterparts, but sells for around LE 45 less per piece, around LE 90 for a bowl, for example. The shop also has more variety because it took patterns from the Internet rather than relying only on traditional styles.
Unlike dishware, Fustat pottery is typically large and heavy. The smaller objects include unique figurines of houses from the countryside or people dressed as traditional fruit sellers or musicians. Although the Fustat artisans are masters at forming pottery with their hands, the final step of painting sometimes needs improvement. The workshops occasionally partner with artists to create an improved finished product. The Egyptian government has also supported recent university graduates of arts faculties with their own village near the Fustat workshops.
"The artist brings his own vision and it's like he has engineers working for him," Qurani said. "Since the worker has an artistic sense, it's easy to meet the demands of the artist."
The Fatimid Dynasty established its administrative and economic capital in Fustat in the 10th century, developing art and architecture that remain today. If history is any indicator of the future, ceramics workers might have a revival. As Egypt has been conquered and rebuilt many times for 7,000 years, ceramics survived through all of it.
http://www.almasryonline.com/portal/page/portal/MasryPortal/ARTICLE_EN?itId=UG119997&pId=UG14&pType=1
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