The Influence of War and Tourism

Tentworkers are living artists whose work pays the bills to provide housing, food and the necessities of life for whole families. Once large in number, now only around 45 tentmakers remain with this decline due to a decline in demand for their work combined with the reality that other professions can provide a larger income and higher social status.

As art for living, tentmakers throughout time have adapted and re-adapted their art to respond to the conditions which they have found themselves operating within.

The Second Seige of Vienna in 1683 saw the conclusive defeat of the Ottoman Empire in Europe.  In time, the fear of the Orient and the barbarian invader passed and the late1700's brought steadily increasing European interest and involvement in the Middle East - though also in the form of colonial expansion.

Khayamiah in The Fair, Mulid El Ahmadi, Cairo, 1907 by Reginald Barrett

 

Exotic tales told by travellers such as Richard Burton and the translations of Arabic works into English, fed the desire for information about this mysterious place.  Photographers such as the French Master photographer Felix Bonfils and Scots painter and lithographer David Roberts, fired the public imagination with readily available romantic images of the Middle East and its people.  


The Orientalist movement which was particularly strong within French art, further created an appealing and ideal image and concept of Middle Eastern splendour and magnificence, in combination with human charm and sensuality. 

The advent of travel for pleasure and self-edification manifested through Thomas Cook's formation of his eponymous travel company in 1841, saw the arrival of the tourist trade in Egypt.  With the arrival of tourists came demand for souvenirs through which tourists could remember their travels and share their adventures back at home. 

Tentmakers responded to tourist demand but as the traditional demand for tents remained, the influence of the tourist trade was not particularly significant.  Large items in European collections date from this period in which a traveller might purchase a tent or large suradeq as the penultimate tourist memento.

While pieces may no longer exist due to the fragile nature of textile art, evidence of the presence of khayamiah outside of Egypt comes from art such as Matisse's Interior with Egyptian Curtain and photographic records that have recorded the presence of khayamiah as decorative items in use in everyday life.  The image to the left which is now sold as an art print shows Mrs Mark Bristol in her home in 1937, working with her maid to wrap a ham for sale, in the new fashionable new product - cellophane.  An intricate suradeq forms the backdrop to their work.

Pharonic/Folkloric tourist work circa 1900

World War One impacted significantly on the adaptive production of tentmaker work.  The war brought an influx of Australian soldiers with ready cash looking for 'something Egyptian' to take home. 

From 1914, Australian soldiers were first sent to Cairo for four and a half months training before participating in the Gallipoli campaign.  With the Middle East Campaign commencing in 1916, the impact of the soldiers was significant.  Smaller pieces of work could be easily packed and these became popular with soldiers and with tourists.  Smaller pieces could be completed quickly, bringing a steadier income to the tentmaker.  

This demand saw a rise in the popularity of Pharonic work which was perceived as typically Egyptian and the demand for Pharonic work was further fed by the discovery and opening of Tutankhamen's tomb by Howard Carter in 1922. 

Tourist work is now a major source of income for tentmakers.  As the demand for smaller items has grown, the generally agreed view is that the quality of the work has increased.  Smaller decorative items which are intended for close viewing has meant that the quality of sewing has risen in comparison to the quality of sewing required for a tent or large suradeq which were often sewn with large motifs and with larger, more openly spaced stitches.

A range of small pieces on display for the tourist trade