In Egypt, rural women are bringing the age-old craft of looming back to life by weaving their daily lives into art

Naglaa Farouk Radwan, a rural embroidery artist, never imagined that her tapestries and batiks — featuring scenes from her village in Egypt — would be displayed in parliaments, museums, opera houses, and UN buildings, or that they would tour the world in art exhibitions.

Threads intertwine in harmony, hues of every colour spread out before her. Another tapestry of her village begins to take shape. How to be creative? There's no need to ask that question. Instead, let the imagination take the lead. Stitch by stitch, one at a time.

Naglaa grew up in Harraniya, a village near the Pyramids of Giza, and began following her mother, Gariah Mahmoud, to the Ramses Wissa Wassef Art Center, where she hand-loomed tapestries and batiks. She was eleven years old at the time, and she recalls Gariah guiding her gaze to a tree growing on the loom, exactly as the one next to their field. 

It was here that Naglaa picked up a small loom and started playing with threads, marking the start of her artistic craft nearly 41 years ago. Whenever she had time between school lessons, she would visit the art centre and spend hours weaving.

“If you don’t love weaving, it’s hard to have the patience to sit and do it,” Naglaa says, as she weaves green threads into the spiky forms of cacti on a traditional loom.

Without any notes, sketches, drawings, or images in front of her, she creates her tapestry works entirely from memory. “I can’t use a sketch or design because it would constrain me. After taking a stroll in the garden and filling my eyes with what I see, I return to my room and use my imagination to weave the landscapes in a variety of colours,” she explains.

Embracing imperfections 

Established in 1952, the Ramses Wissa Wassef Art Center was founded by Egyptian architect Ramses Wissa Wassef and his wife, Sophie, with the mission of giving rural women the freedom to express their creativity without the constraints of traditional patterns or societal expectations.

This idea extended to the children of Harraniya as well. With minimal guidance and just the basic materials, the children were encouraged to pick their own themes, colours, and scenes, allowing their creativity to grow beyond the usual boundaries of formal art training. 

Ramses also worked hard to preserve Egypt’s traditional arts. At a time when machine-made products were taking over, he focused on keeping hand-weaving alive. According to the centre’s brochures, Ramses believed that “creativity begins when an artist instinctively and in a flash of joy catches the idea of the scene he or she intends to weave.”

This approach led to many pieces of art that showed everyday life in the countryside. Over the years, hundreds of handwoven scenes have been created, drawing art lovers from around the world. These include images of women filling their water jars, men working in the fields, people sitting in traditional circles, local plants, flowing springs, mud-brick homes, and doves flying from their dovecotes.

For artists like Naglaa, weaving is not just a craft, but a way to express themselves. “I leave everything as it is, even if a tree leaf has twisted away from me. I learn from my mistakes, and in the end, I see the whole tapestry as beautiful, with all its imperfections," she says. 

She adds, "I'm naturally drawn to colours; I don't feel the need to follow a specific pattern. I simply choose a colourful thread that feels right, believing it will bring coherence to the overall piece as I go along.”

Naglaa’s art is also shaped by her personal experiences. After her mother’s passing, she created a tapestry of little islands in a flowing river. Weaving this piece helped her deal with her sorrow and distracted her from the grief that had overwhelmed her. “It was as if time stood still,” she remembers, “as I spent hours weaving and forgot about the passing time.”

Nearby, 64-year-old Tahiya Ibrahim also continues the tradition of hand-weaving. Tahiya, who started weaving as a teenager, has grown to love capturing the shapes of plants and flowers in her work. She also enjoys dyeing the threads, carefully choosing the colours she feels fit best with her designs.

Over time, Tahiya's work has grown in scale and complexity. She began by weaving small tapestries and gradually moved on to larger ones, using thousands of threads to create intricate scenes, all of which were inspired by her community and its surroundings.

Overcoming challenges

Currently, fewer than 30 weavers continue to create tapestries. Today, only ten female artists and two male artists remain at the art centre, as many of the teenagers who once learned to weave have moved on to other careers. Despite this, the remaining artists remain dedicated to their craft, having produced hundreds of pieces over the years that reflect the everyday life of the Egyptian countryside.

One of the biggest obstacles the Ramses Wissa Wassef Art Center faces today is sustainability. According to the centre’s coordinator, Alphons Ghattas, it is unlikely that the centre will expand into other Egyptian villages, as it requires significant dedication from both the young artists and the staff to keep the tradition alive.

Adding to this challenge is the rise of social media, which has drawn the attention of today’s youth away from traditional crafts. “There are many distractions for children that prevent them from spending hours each day hand-weaving,” Alphons explains.

The centre’s management has evolved over the years. Today, it is overseen by Ramses’ daughters, Yoanna and Suzanne, both in their late sixties. 

Reviving the centre’s culture in other parts of Egypt would require significant time and effort, yet despite these challenges, there are ambitious plans for the future.

According to Alphons, there is even the possibility that the embroidery complex could one day be transformed into a museum.

Meanwhile, the surrounding environment of the art centre has changed significantly. Given its proximity to the pyramids, the area is no longer as rural as it once was. Over time, many buildings have encroached upon the green lands, but the art centre still stands firm in the heart of the village, preserving its tradition.

Refusing to let these challenges stand in the way, the centre is working tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure the longevity of the art form. One such effort involves cultivating plants used to dye the threads for the tapestries. 

Interestingly, Ramses had intended to use the same plants that were once used for the Coptic museum’s tapestries, which have maintained their vivid colours for centuries. However, since these plants no longer grow in Egypt, they were imported and planted at the art centre. Now, much of the garden is dedicated to growing plants like reseda, indigo, and rubia to create durable dyes.

As the work continues, Naglaa and the other artists keep weaving, each thinking about new projects, though the future is still uncertain.

Azza Guergues is a Cairo-based journalist who has been covering MENA for ten years

Follow her on X: @AzzaGuergues