Memnon Handicraft

Over the last week or so, I have noticed an old mud brick house, slowly come to life. Each time I passed, there was something different about it.

This morning, as I cycled by, I saw the most vibrant blue hut, with traditional hand painted people on the outside walls and emerging from the door, Abdu El Rahim.

I have known this man and his brother since I arrived here in Luxor. Set in the Tombs of the Nobles, in the Theban Hills, Abdu's brother had a shop 3 years ago, which sold handmade, recycled, glassware and pottery. In the days when we could walk amongst the tombs and the Qornawi's homes, I would regularly visit him and learn how to make jewellery from the glass beads, I still have a bracelet today.

The Qornawi people were removed from the Mountain a few years ago, to be relocated to a new village away from their home of 100 years or so. At the time, and still, there are mixed feelings about it, because of the way it was done and the long term effect it had on the people. Abdu knew this would happen eventually and built a factory in the village of Sul. He was preparing for the future.

Parking up my bicycle, I felt a cool breeze and marvelled at the location of 'Memnon Handicraft' Just before the mighty Colossi of Memnon, down a slight incline and set against a backdrop of 3,000years of Pharoanic history, you find the centre.

'Welcome' he said and invited me in to have a look.

I saw wonderful things. All handmade, mainly, from the people of the two districts of the West Bank, El Bairat and El Qorna. Scarves, bags, mobile phone holders, napkins, pottery and wooden items from Hagaza.

The factory in Sul, Balady Handicraft, had been working over the last 18 months since the Egyptian Revolution and continued to produce the pottery, rugs and scarves.
but due to the dramatic drop in Tourism, no-one had been to visit.

Abdu has opened the Centre here, which is much more accessible to Tourists, with the vision of other independents coming in to sell their crafts. We have a few groups here on the West Bank, that do get together and make the most beautiful things. It is a fabulous idea, as it directly helps the people that really need the money.

All the pottery and scarves are made in the Sul factory, by 45 children, aged 10 years old and upwards. They have been selected from the most needy of the villages in the area. Factors considered, are individuals personal circumstances; they are either left to provide for their family, or are not able to provide for them. These include a number of reasons from having no skills, no parents, no husband or they may even be divorced and have a child/children to look after and of course cannot go to work.

Through Abdu and his family, the children are collected from their homes, brought to the centre, learn a skill, continue their education and make a little money. They are paid a small salary during their training and upon completion, they receive 50% of each item (They have made) sold.

So you can imagine, he has a vast amount of stock (Abdu and his family continued to pay them as the children needed the work) and no one to buy them.
Each piece of pottery is unique and has the name of the person that made it, he says it makes it easier for him to pay whoever made it, but from my perspective, to have a piece in my home, that is personalised and I know a little about the person that made it, makes it extremely special.

Mixing the old and the new, I want to help the people that make these amazing things, through the power of the internet. To be able to spread the word of their work, from a small village in Luxor to people all over the World, via Blip and me taking a few photos.. is almost as amazing as the people that make these things.