The Art of Egyptian Khayamiyya Workshop (May 2026)

Hany Abd El-Kader is one of the famous Cairo ‘Tentmakers’, male textile artisans who are keeping alive the ancient Egyptian art of cotton appliqué embroidery, known in Arabic as khayamiyya. During the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, Hany used his craft to record his eye-witness accounts of the unrest he saw taking place in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. This gave rise to a series of ‘Revolution Khayamiyya’ panels, one of which is in the V&A collection (ME.4-2016), and will be on permanent display at V&A East Museum. 

Hany will be bringing his craft from Cairo to London, to demonstrate the technique of khayamiyya during London Craft Week. Under Hany’s guidance, workshop participants will learn the basic craft techniques, and make their own piece of cotton appliqué embroidery to take home.

There will also be the opportunity to sign up for an introductory event in which Hany will give a demonstration of the craft of khayamiyya, introduced by a talk from expert Seif El Rashidi (Director, Barakat Trust), co-author (with Sam Bowker), of The Tentmakers of Cairo: Egypt's Medieval and Modern Appliqué Craft (The American University in Cairo Press, 2018) (see separate listing).

This event is part of the V&A’s Jameel Programme