The Art of Egyptian Khayamiyya: Talk and Demonstration

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. The demonstration will be 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). Participants will have the opportunity to handle some examples from Seif’s personal collection, and to interact with both presenters and ask questions.

There will also be the opportunity for a smaller group to take part in a hands-on workshop in which they will be able to make their own piece of cotton appliqué embroidery to take home (see separate listing).

For enquiries about this event, please email asia.events@vam.ac.uk. 

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