The Daily Star newspaper published today an article about “L’Artisan du Liban et L’Orient” the high-end boutique selling traditional handicrafts made by local artisans,  which was founded in December 1967. The article reviewed the history of the boutique and the struggle of its 2 founders May and Nadia el-Khoury the sustainability of the shop.
The article mentioned that the shop was opened by May el-Khoury, the late wife of one of Lebanon’s most prolific contemporary architects Pierre el-Khoury, in Ain al-Mreisseh in a year when Lebanon and much of the Middle East was still shocked and traumatized by Israel’s six-day military victory of 1967, stating that it was an innovative concept nearly five decades ago and has since spawned the most incongruous legacies of the war.

L’Artisan’s founder, May, never got to see the full extent of the trend she pioneered, since she tragically died in a car crash in 1975, and Pierre’s second wife, Nadia, took over L’Artisan on the same year. Nadia was encouraged by her husband, to start a career as a middle-aged woman. She dabbled in painting and interior design, before devoting herself to L’Artisan full-time in the 1990s, where she continued May’s fight through her own vision. Nadia sourced new markets for raw material such as Turkey and personally designed new interpretations of traditional crafts or revives patterns that are no longer used, which were then implemented by one of the 20 Lebanese craftsmen L’Artisan worked with.
The result was a hodgepodge of well-crafted, modern adaptation of standard Oriental fare. Colorful, faux-Ottoman era scrolls painted by a local Lebanese calligrapher are displayed alongside Turkish carpets and racks of elegantly embroidered caftans. Brass trays with calligraphy engraved by a local ironsmith are stacked next to a brightly colored ceramic Moroccan lamp on a dining room table surrounded by antique, mother-of-pearl-inlaid chairs. Baskets overflow with handmade dolls wearing individually designed, traditional Arabic dress and soaps made in Tripoli and Aleppo spill from shelves.

Nadia explained to “The Daily Star”, that the store had never lost money until last year, when the drop off in Gulf tourists began to take its toll. Nadia has slashed prices across the shop and is now searching for a buyer who will purchase L’Artisan du Liban et L’Orient as an institution. She’s negotiated with a few interested parties, but so far none have been willing to continue the vision pioneered by May. “Some people want to open a restaurant. Some people don’t want to buy stock.”
In the meantime, Lebanon’s original luxury artisan shop remains open.

Source: The Daily Star 8 March 2013