The Ramses Wissa Wassef Art Center has rarely seen such industry. Over a spacious work-floor strewn with sawdust, the air is full with the sounds of sawing and chopping, and the frantic chattering of workers in all manner of languages.
A dozen craftsmen – three from each of Spain, Portugal, Morocco and Egypt – are gathered here for the “Open Doors for Crafts and Dialogue project, initiated by German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) in Cairo, to put together an exhibition demonstrating Mediterranean intercultural cooperation, respect, and learning.
They will each build four doors using their own national – and individual – techniques and materials, before jointly building an exhibition stand, on top of which the doors will be displayed.
“It’s amazing to see how people from other countries go about their work, one of the Portuguese participants, Bruno Reis, told Daily News Egypt.
“They are doing the same job as me, but their way of doing it is completely different.
Bruno, who works with his father in their family business in the small Portuguese town of Malveira, says that although his country’s style is not so different to that of the Spaniards, it is worlds apart from the Egyptians.
“I have not seen anyone put as much work into their craft as the Egyptians, he said, showing photos of an intricate, trellised front door.
“They hand carve hundreds of tiny pieces, assemble them into the door’s shape, take them apart again, glue them, and put them back together. It’s amazing.
GTZ, which also engages in women’s and urban development projects in Egypt, collaborated with the non-profit NGO Egyptian Earth Construction Association (EECA) in organizing the project.
It was with the help of people like EECA, as well as the Lisbon-based Institute of Arts and Crafts (IOA), that the project has run so smoothly, said Marion Fischer of GTZ.
“For sure there was a lot to organize, Fischer told Daily News Egypt.
“There were four countries involved, so there was a lot of traveling, and a lot of things to arrange in the different countries. We had to make sure all the wood got here safely, and arrange visas for the participants.
“But the people we worked with were very helpful, and the manager of the art center is very friendly and helpful, so everything is working well now.
Initially, she was worried about the language barrier between the participants; but that was dismissed as soon as the participants arrived in the art center and laid eyes on the Egyptian door.
“Everyone threw themselves on it, she laughs, “and they just burst into discussion. It was very exciting to see.
Bruno calls this the “language of craft.
“We are like jazz musicians, he said. “Sometimes you see them go on stage and they might not be able to speak a word to one another. But when they start playing, they know exactly what the other one is saying.
The participants, who began their work on Tuesday, will continue until Nov. 24, before the exhibition is unveiled on Nov. 25.
It will then spend the next year on display, first in Egypt, then in Germany, Morocco, Spain and Portugal.
