In Gaza’s markets, crafts were part of the daily scene: spinning, embroidery and traditional rugs from sheep’s wool, weaving and cotton clothing, furniture made of cane, coloured-glass making, and street foods known to anyone who passed through the city.
The Arts and Crafts Village was created to gather these trades and teach them to new generations, in an effort to preserve skills handed down by hand from master to maker.
Gaza’s industry suffered badly: after employing tens of thousands, by December 2007 only 195 factories remained, employing some 1,700 people. Yet the question stands: how is a craft kept when its workshop is destroyed? The answer lies in the makers’ memory and in the hands that learned it.
Source: “Gaza City” — Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_City
Cover photo: OneArmedMan — Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.
