Interview to the artisans

Published On Thu, Dec 19, 19

One of the most peculiar business activities in New Valley Governorate is the handicraft. Porcelain, pottery, arabesque, klims and carpets are produced by local artisans throughout the governorate. The Handicraft Centre located in Gamal Abdel Nasser Street next to Sadat secondary school in Kharga, New Valley Governorate, is a central reference point in the field of handicraft in New Valley, being attended by many artisans working in Kharga Oasis. There artisans create their products, organize the marketing of their products and attend courses to improve their entrepreneurial skills and better their handicraft activities.

CISS team, in order to understand more about the special and characteristic products of the Handicraft Center and to know more about the outstanding artists and artisans working there, carried out some interviews aiming at discovering the interesting handicrafts activities in the centre.

Interview to carpets artisans

Introduce yourselves and tell us what you do in the Handicraft Centre.

We are Heba Salah, Eman Saad and Ola Ragab; we produce carpets and klims. We use any waste of clothes and other raw materials for the creation of our products. At the current time we are also making courses to produce carpets with different techniques.

Tell us more about your products and their design.

The design of the products is either traditional either modern style. If you give us a picture, we will draw you the picture on the carpet or the klim. In general, we draw the oases, the camel, the water and the palm trees (the folklore of the oasis).

Which kinds of carpet do you sell more?

Usually among the carpets the most chosen from the market are the ones you can put on the walls. They can have different measures, such as 2 meters and 80 cm or 2 meters and 90 cm. Every carpet or klim is made according to what you want (your requirements and specifications).

Which is the production process? Do you use machines?

We use different techniques. We use both machines and our hands.

Interview to pottery artisans (1/2)

Introduce yourselves and tell us what you do in the Handicraft Centre

We are Magda Husien, Hanan Ahmed, Rasha Ahmed and Entsar Housin; we do pottery (for example vase, pottery for lamps).

Please, describe more your handicraft activity and the products you do.

We take the raw material and we shape it with the hands and with the pottery tools to make different shapes and holes on it. After finishing the product, we cover it to leave it dry otherwise it will be destroyed. After it dries, we clean it from anything remaining residual from the raw material and we put it into the oven at a high temperature of 850°. This above described is the first step, that gives a certain colour to the product. On a second step the product goes into another oven and this gives it another colour. After that we use the different colours of the sand to colour it; they are natural colours, from the mountains here in the region. The colours are black, yellow, white, brown, pink, red, grey. We use only some colours that are not natural; in this case we take the sand and we put colour on it (for example the green and the blue). We use these last colours only when requested by the market. Otherwise, we use only natural sand colours. The way of making these pots and their colours is unique. You will not find it anywhere, only in Kharga.

Which products do you think are more interesting for tourists?

Generally, tourists prefer some small products because they are easy to carry during the travel and to bring in the plane. We also create products for hotels or resorts, such as wall lamps to put lightening inside, and we also create products to put in the fences of the houses and pottery for cooking and eating.

What do you think will be the development of your activity in the centre (to make more products, to create new ones, etc.)?

For us it is important to make innovation (YouTube videos, to make expand the market, etc.) and to learn more in order to make new products appreciated by the market.

Interview to pottery artisans (2/2)

Introduce yourself and tell us what you do in the Handicraft Centre

I am Mohammed Abo Zeid and I make pottery and some statues in pottery; I am particularly famous for the mask in pottery. I work the product as a scratcher. I make scratches modifying the pottery plate itself. I have been working as a scratcher for years (30-40 years). I started working in portrait sand one year ago.

What kind of technique do you use?

I use hand and some work tools. I work on a stable structure, so the work is very easy. I can draw different things: palm trees, people reading Koran, people baking in an old oven, people celebrating and playing drums.

Which products do tourists usually buy?

They usually buy small products that are easier to carry so there is less probability that they will be broken.

Interview to arabesque artisans

Introduce yourself and tell us what you do in the Handicraft Centre

My name is Ahmed Hamed and my main products are: pocket tissue bags, boxes for dates, sugar or pens, keys bags or candles bags, cups, vases. All the products are coloured, decorated with arabesque motives.

What is your technique?

I use various materials such as waste of ordinary tree or palm tree. I take the waste coming from cut trees and I recycle it. When the measures are decided, I put the material in the machine and turn it on. Every shape I want, I can do it with the machine. Furthermore, I can make any design.

Interview to wood artisans

Introduce yourself and tell us what you do in the Handicraft Centre

My name is Mahmoud Muhammed. I work as an employee in the Culture Palaces and I am a member of the Ecotourism Centre in New Valley in Kharga. I am an artisan, an artist, and I do some activities like scratch on the wood and stone, and I draw with sand. I also do design on pottery, carpets and klim. I supervise all the work activities related to handicraft in the Handicraft Centre in Kharga. Beside all these jobs in the centre, I do some activities related to the marketing of the products, travelling and organizing exhibitions of the products in and outside of Egypt.

Describe briefly your experience in the handicraft sector.

I have 20 years of experience in the field of handicraft.

Describe more your products (material and design).

The first product I do is scratch on the palm tree and wood. I recycle the palm tree and other materials coming from the environment of New Valley to make a new handicraft product. The second product is scratching on the stones and bricks. I receive this material (stones, palm tree, etc.) and I make any kind of product. If you give me some material, I can reshape it, you can ask for everything. For example, I can reshape the material as an animal. I also draw with the natural colours of the sand on pottery.

Tell me more about your handicraft production process; do you use a particular technique?

For example, I use the technique of fire to draw on wood.

Which products do you think are the most interesting ones among the ones you produce? Why?

Since I am an artist, I have a connection with each piece I create. I am more focused on the creation of my pieces of arts than on the production of products. I love and I have passion for what I do, and I like all the pieces I create.

Which are your usual clients?

All the work depends mainly on the exhibitions (in and outside of Egypt) we participate in.

Do you think your products can be interesting for tourists? Why?

Tourists usually are interested in all my products. They are particularly interested in my products because I use recycled material coming from the environment of the oasis to create them, so my products are environmentally sustainable.

How do you see your activity in three years? Do you have a dream about it?

For me it is not important to sell a lot, but to see that people love my products and feel positive emotions thanks to them. Therefore, my dream is to develop my activity in a way that tourists coming to New Valley will have more opportunities to discover the products I create every day with my hands. If I see that they like my products I could feel more satisfied about what I am doing. This is my dream.