Cairo is a city in which millennia of Egyptian history are woven into the fabric of modern daily life, and where history and tradition inform and shape the lived experience of every Cairene. It is also a city where an ancient legacy bumps up against new technologies, the winds of social and political change, and the ebb and flow of economic stability – a city in which its citizens must navigate the intersection of tradition with modernity, and the interface between historical memory and present-day concerns. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the workshops of Cairo’s traditional artisans, who carry on the traditional arts and crafts of the generations before them, while adapting to a changing sociocultural and economic landscape. In The Tentmakers of Cairo: Egypt’s Medieval and Modern Appliqué Craft, Seif El Rashidi and Sam Bowker present a wide-ranging study of one of Egypt’s traditional crafts, the Egyptian appliqué work known as khayamiya (from khayma, Arabic for tent) and showcase the stories of the skilled artisans who struggle to preserve this uniquely Egyptian art. There has been very little research attention to khayamiya prior to the publication…
Book Review: The Tentmakers of Cairo: Egypt’s Medieval and Modern Appliqué Craft
September 26, 2019
