Carpet weaving: A craft mastered by women in Lebanon but on its way to disappearing || Newspapers (Arabic)

An-Nahar newspaper published a report on the disappearing craft of carpet weaving in the Beqaa locality of Fakheh.  Carpet weaving in that area was a craft mostly perfected by women for whom it constituted a source of income as well as a treasured heritage but which is now threatened by competition of cheaper products imported from China and Turkey.

The report notes that this skill dates back to some 300 years and was brought to the area by a young bride from Aidmoon village in Akkar who taught her peers in Fakheh the intricacies and complexities of this art.  Carpet weaving quickly spread amongst women of all ages but has now dwindled considerably as production has become economically non-viable and the craft has not been passed on, as a result, to the younger generation.  It is to be noted that a small hand-woven carpet of 4X3 m costs a prohibitive price of at least 2 thousand US Dollars.

The report also relays the stories of older women who mourn the loss of a skill that they have inherited from their mothers and the disappearance of a market that was well known beyond the region.  Hajja Tamador, who is 85 years old, testifies of an era when the craft that she had learned from her mother and grandmother, was prosperous and appreciated and her sorrow to see the market taken over by lower qualities goods from abroad.

An- Nahar concludes its report by relaying the wishes of the women in seeing the set up a carpet weaving training centre in their village to bring back this skills and encourage tourism to this area so as to ensure that this craft survives.

Source: Al-Nahar  27 February 2013