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Co-Weave Fuwwah Lab Day 3



We now concluded the first phase of our Co-Weave Fuwwah Lab, which extended for three consecutive Saturdays from April 25 to May 9. This time we gathered at the Tekeya al-Khalwatiyah once again, owing to its spacious courtyard and shaded entryway. It is a rather beautiful building, with the typical mangur brick facade repeated inside at the entrance to the darih of Shaykh Rihan. The Khalwatiyah is a sufi order founded by Yahya Shirvani, a disciple of Umar al-Khalwati, in Herat (in what is today Afghanistan).



The first part of the day was spent co-designing: by now acquainted with their buddy, designers and weavers sat together in the shaded sides of the courtyard. They used a design log we provided both to check that the co-design exercise was effectively engaging the weavers as much as the designers and to sum up the most important design elements. As couples were finalising their design outlines, we started a full revision of techniques, colours and sizes with Mahmoud Sa'ad 'Abed, of the Cooperative Association, and negotiated prices directly with him. This part was way easier that we had anticipated!




After the co-design sessions, our vice-dean for research and postgraduate, Gamal Ekheshen, who is an artist, a graphic designer, and happens to hold an MBA, gave the weavers a workshop on entrepreneurship and digital marketing.


In the meanwhile, the designers visited another part of the city centre, between vernacular brick houses and Ancient Egyptian spolia (spolia are bits from ancient buildings reused in later construction works)...

Here, a quartzite slab with a hieroglyphic formula following the names of an Ancient Egyptian king (name not preserved): "beloved, given life, stability and power like Ra for ever"


In the photos above, an Ancient Egyptian naos (tabernacle) reused as an ablution basin in the Quraniya Mosque

This, I wish I had the money to buy, restore and adapt into a restaurant/hotel!



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