This September, I will travel from Australia to the UK to present aspects of my research into the history of the Tentmakers of Cairo, as well as conduct fieldwork for future articles.
If you would like to attend one of these presentations or meet to discuss Khayamiya whilst I am travelling, please feel free to contact me.
UK Lecture Itinerary
September 5-6-7: University of Hull Visions of Egypt Conference (website)
Tentmakers and Tourists: The Re-Orientation of Khayamiya
ABSTRACT: Khayamiya, or Tentmaker Appliqué, is a spectacular form of Egyptian textile art. It has been made in Cairo since the days of the Ottoman Empire, with antecedents known from the Pharaonic era. This vibrant art form was once manifested as elaborately decorated tents, designed as impressive ceremonial backdrops for public events. However, the Khayamin (or Tentmakers) dramatically changed their output from the 1890s, moving away from Khedival tents to create Neo-Pharaonic and Folkloric scenes on smaller linen panels. These were designed as practical souvenirs for visitors to Egypt, unlike the grand tents that were usually purchased by Egyptians, for Egyptians.
By the 1920s, the traditional forms of Khedival Khayamiya had been superseded to the point of extinction. The souvenir format had become so popular that “Vintage Egyptian Appliqués” are now regularly seen circulating in the international antiques trade. Even contemporary Khayamiya continues to find its most important following within non-Egyptian audiences, though this may be set to change as the Tentmakers embrace emerging Egyptian cultural identities.
The invention of touristic forms of Khayamiya presents a striking case study in the dynamics of interaction between Egyptians and their international visitors at the turn of the nineteenth century. These objects are manifestations of touristic perceptions of Egypt, as imagined by both Egyptians and visitors to Egypt. They demonstrate both the resilient entrepreneurial spirit of the Tentmakers and the ongoing cultural significance of the Khayamiya as a uniquely Egyptian art form, centered upon perceptions of what Egyptian culture ‘looks like’.
September 8: Doddington Hall (Lincolnshire) to view their spectacular Tent Room and present a public talk. (website)
Khayamiya in Context: The Tent Room
ABSTRACT: The ‘Tent Room’ at Doddington is a former bedroom filled by a spectacular appliqué Egyptian tent, a colourful, evocative Khayamiya which fills the space right up to the high ceiling. It was given to Doddington Hall by Harry, later Viscount Crookshank, who was MP for Gainsborough for over 30 years. Harry would pitch the tent on the lawns of Doddington Hall and use it to entertain his constituents; he was born in Cairo and the tent was made there at the turn of the twentieth century. Such tents are still made today for weddings and fairs and as such it is a bright, vibrant design perfect for celebrations under a hot sun.
For over seventy years, the tent lay in a storeroom at Doddington where it deteriorated until it was restored by James and Claire Birch in India, whilst they lived there in the late 1990s. Both Claire and James loved the tent and its colourful history, so restoring it and displaying it for visitors to enjoy was considered a right and proper purpose as it was originally intended – for social enjoyment.
From within this very special tent, Dr Bowker will tell the stories of the Khayamiya, past and present. This is a remarkable object, and a remarkable history can be drawn from it.
- The “Tent Room” of Doddington Hall – a fully restored late-nineteenth century Egyptian Khayamiya, a masterpiece of Egyptian Tentmaker Applique. Photo courtesy James and Claire Birch, Doddington Hall, Lincolnshire UK (2013).
September 9-10: I will be in London to view the British Museum‘s Khayamiya collection and other sites of research interest.
September 12-13-14: University of Cork War in the Visual Arts Conference (website)
Another Egyptian Revolution: Khayamiya as War Art
ABSTRACT: The Tentmakers of Cairo have made decorated tents or ‘Khayamiya’ since the time of the Ottoman Empire. Their work was widely collected as souvenirs by Allied soldiers in Egypt during the First and Second World Wars, and even appropriated for military purposes. However, in the aftermath of the 25 January 2011 Revolution, Hany Abdel Khader became the first Egyptian Tentmaker to directly address the complex genre of war art. His Revolution Khayamiya (2011 and 2012) are unprecedented and controversial interpretations of this historic textile art form. Given their original context, they are the most provocative of the contemporary artworks that have emerged in Cairo in the wake of the 2011 Revolution. They symbolize a vast break from tradition, and a very direct engagement with the social and political disruption of the Egyptian Revolution.
This paper will discuss the unexpected emergence of Abdel Khader’s highly expressive and individual work as a contemporary war artist within a medium widely disregarded as a decorative textile craft. His original Revolution Khayamiya now belongs to the Oriental Museum in Durham University. This is one of the first contemporary Khayamiya to be recognized by a major cultural institution, and an exemplar of Egyptian contemporary war art.
The depiction of a recent and violent political event, by the conventions of the Sharia el-Khayamiya, is an act of breathtaking audacity and acumen. The Revolution Khayamiya were sewn by hand in secret, depicting the events in Tahrir Square as Hany Abdel Khader saw them, as his friends told him, and as they were related by Egyptian media. The result is simple in the manner of folk art, but profound as his personal narrative of a complex national uprising.
This is an important story expressed through an ancient decorative art; a revolution for the Egyptians, and a revolution for the Khayamiya.
September 16: Durham University
Link to Event Poster (PDF)
The Art History of the Khayamiya
Khayamiya originated as decorated tents across the Arab world. This lecture will trace their history from early Ottoman origins to the tourist souvenirs sold in the markets of Cairo today. It will address the process through which this unexplored history was revealed, from the painter Henri Matisse to contemporary quiltmakers. It will culminate in a discussion of the work of Hany Abdel Khader, whose Revolution khayamiya depicts the events of the 2011 Revolution in Egypt.
Dr Sam Bowker 