Overview

In the crowded center of Historic Cairo lies a covered market lined with wonderful textiles sewn by hand in brilliant colors and intricate patterns. This is the Street of the Tentmakers, the home of the Egyptian applique art known as 'khayamiya.' The Tentmakers of Cairo brings together the stories of the tentmakers and their extraordinary tents-from the huge tent pavilions, or suradiq, of the streets of Egypt, to the souvenirs of the First World War and textile artworks celebrated by quilters around the world. It traces the origins and aesthetics of the khayamiya textiles that enlivened the ceremonial tents of the Fatimid, Mamluk, and Ottoman dynasties, exploring the ways in which they challenged conventions under new patrons and technologies, inspired the paper cut-outs of Henri Matisse, and continue to preserve a legacy of skilled handcraft in an age of relentless mass production. Drawing on historical literature, interviews with tentmakers, and analysis of khayamiya from around the world, the authors reveal the stories of this unique and spectacular Egyptian textile art.

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9789774168024

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Reviews

Written in an easy, colloquial, entertaining and discursive style which, while providing a wide range of information, should appeal not only to academic readers, but to the lively interest in the craft that has recently been fostered in the West. --Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society An expansive and captivating history of an often overlooked traditional art --Egyptian Streets [A] model of how to make the fruit of specialized academic research interesting to a wider public. . . . a fascinating read. --Aramco World

Written in an easy, colloquial, entertaining and discursive style which, while providing a wide range of information, should appeal not only to academic readers, but to the lively interest in the craft that has recently been fostered in the West. --Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society An expansive and captivating history of an often overlooked traditional art --Egyptian Streets

This book is an homage to this craft and details all its aspects. . . .The authors have done a great service by telling this story which is an intricate part of the history of Cairo. They tell it well and tell it in detail.--Bob Brier, Ancient Egypt Magazine Written in an easy, colloquial, entertaining and discursive style which, while providing a wide range of information, should appeal not only to academic readers, but to the lively interest in the craft that has recently been fostered in the West.--Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society An expansive and captivating history of an often overlooked traditional art--Egyptian Streets [A] model of how to make the fruit of specialized academic research interesting to a wider public. . . . a fascinating read.--Aramco World

Written in an easy, colloquial, entertaining and discursive style which, while providing a wide range of information, should appeal not only to academic readers, but to the lively interest in the craft that has recently been fostered in the West. --Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society

Author Information

Seif El Rashidi is an art historian who graduated from the American University in Cairo’s Islamic art program. He specializes in the management of heritage projects involving community engagement, and has worked for ten years in cultural preservation in Cairo’s al-Darb al-Ahmar, the tentmakers’ neighborhood. Sam Bowker is a lecturer in art history and visual culture at Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga, Australia. He has published on aspects of khayamiya since 2012, and curated Khayamiya: Khedival to Contemporary for the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia in 2015–16.

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