Tapestries from Egypt Lecture

Motivated by a belief in the creative energy of the individual and an attempt to enliven craft, an experiment was seeded in rural Egypt to encourage artistic expression. This story began first in Old Cairo as an after school activity then moved to a rural village with a small group of young children, with less exposure yet to the outside world, utilizing high-warp looms. The high-warp loom resembles the very earliest looms, and it was chosen to allow flexibility of expression. With no preliminary design, weaving was chosen because it involves a building process done directly on the loom. Local materials used are cotton and wool, which are dyed with natural pigments including indigo, weld (reseda luteola), madder and cochineal; most of which are grown at the Art Centre.

The tapestries exhibited at the Tucson Botanical Garden are the work of artists from the Ramses Wissa Wassef Art Centre in Harrania, an effort which was initiated 80 years ago. To learn about an alternative view of art education, please join us for an evening presentation at the Tucson Botanical Gardens.

This lecture is FREE thanks to generous support from Rory MacEwing and Osama Abdelatif.