Tentmakers of Bub Zuweyla

I should clarify this post- I  ( textile itinerant) am writing this as if I were Mohammed Dendon- apparently people have approached him in the Tentmakers  souq saying he has a blog. My apologies to Dendon- it was a privilege to meet him and buy some of his wonderful work.

“My name is Mohammed and I am a Tentmaker in the Tentmakers Khan near the Bub Zuweyla gate in Old Cairo . My father taught me my craft as his father had taught him . The designs that I work with have been handed down through my family.

I work all day in my stall sewing the applique designs onto black or cream backgrounds, my preference is to use simple contrasts as it enhances the designs. Once tent hangings were very popular in Egypt being used for any festive occasion and to decorate tents for feasts out in the desert. But now modern industry prints the fabric using our designs to adorn the tents because of course they are much cheaper, but somehow it is not the same- the fabric hasn’t the same indiviudal character.
<> I usually sell my work to tourists. I am part of the living heritage of Cairo, that somehow is moving too fast to absorb this wonderful vibrant heritage. A friend of mine, Jenny Bowker is bringing some of my work to Melbourne to the Australian Quilt Convention in late February in 2007 and another Australian friend is working to have my work seen at Carrefour Europeen du Patchwork in Val D’Argent.<> My stall is in a fascinating part of the Khan as the original covering still exists and the upper apartments have windows covered by masrabbiyah . The area is perptually in shadow punctuated by bright shafts of light.

<>When friends come I offer them tea with mint- the traditional drink of hospitality which one of my sons runs and gets for me, I ask the visitors to sit on my bench where I sit to work and we talk, and we look at the work and maybe I sell a piece. It can take days even weeks to make one piece , each piece is cut by hand and then sewn by hand, the more intricate the design the more the sewing.“