The first Egyptian textile museum will open early next year in Old Cairo.
The museum, which cost some LE20 million, will display rare carpets, mates and clothes dating back to different epochs.
"It will display up to 250 pieces of textile and 15 carpets dating back from the Pharaohnic age to Ottoman ruler Mohammad Ali," Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni said.
He said the museum will use state-of-the-art technology in displaying the masterpieces.
"The showcased items will be accompanied by useful information about their place of origin and how they were made," the minister added.
A related article, looking at traditional carpet making in modern Cairo was recently published on the Brazil Arab News Agency website:
Al Khyamiya is a famous commercial centre in the centre of Islamic Cairo. There are made colourful tents with which the streets and temples are decorated in Egypt. The souk (bazaar) which has been in operation since the 17th century is, in reality, a long narrow street covered by a stone roof. There are many small shops in which many men, each sitting in front of his sewing machine, work on their millenary and artistic practice. Visiting the small street does not take much more than ten minutes on foot.
The souk is one of the famous regions of Cairo named after the profession predominating there. Like Nahassim, where copper handicraft is sold, and Fahhamin, the area for charcoal, Al Khyamiya is where, for centuries, specialized artisans have produced the material used in the traditional tents of Ramadan – sites visited during the nights of the holy month to drink tea, coffee or smoke hookahs.
The fabric, as thick as a tarpaulin and with lively images, have been made almost the same way since the time of the Fatimids, who ruled Egypt in the tenth century.
See the above page for the full story.
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