Embroidery

Giza / Mottamadaya

"Mottamadaya Women's Association was established in 1999 by Amel, Victoria and Sabah, who are three of almost 200 other women who formed this artisan group. Right around that same time, a Dutch expatriate who had recently moved to Cairo from India decided to teach a group of them an embroidering technique that she had learned. They applied Egyptian landscape motifs, mainly depicting the beautiful sceneries in Upper Egypt, to the stitching and began to ‘paint’ colorful detailed scenes onto canvases of all sizes and functions. The original small artisan group has grown into one of the largest Fair Trade Egypt producers. Each one of them learned this trade since the beginning of the project, and currently leads groups of almost 50 women. Their embroideries reflect the cheerful and rich colors of Egyptian country life. They depict farmers, animals and lush vegetation, all rendered in bright thread over crisp cotton canvas. The wistfulness of their rural scenes doesn’t deter from the serious work that goes into each petal, leaf or strand of hair. Since 1999, Fair Trade Egypt has enabled them and all the women in their group generate income to their families and communities. Apart from that, Fair Trade Egypt has been helping these women with health and environmental awareness sessions, to empower them to better cope with the tough circumstances in which they live."