Damascus-Sana
Weaving 2 millimeters of silk thread requires 40 precision and 2 centimeters of cotton thread. It takes 24 accuracy and producing a piece requires patience, great effort, artistic sense and a lot of love with these words. Munir Al-Masdi summarizes the secrets of a profession that is most sincere for her for 55 years and all that worries him today is its disappearance.
And from his small shop in the Suleimaniyah Tekiye in Damascus, the seventieth Al-Masdi begins his work every morning to weave on his wooden loom pieces of art that are like antiques in which colors and experiences are mixed and he says to the delegate of Sana from behind his handloom The profession was inherited from father to grandfather and I have been practicing it for 55 years and I spend most of my time in this small place that gives me A large space for reflection and contemplation, to find everything new and special.
Al-Masdi, who used to work as a mathematics teacher, learned the profession from his father and said I always sat next to him when he worked and learned from him to complete the cutting professionally using silk threads, wool and natural cotton, pieces that are not rivaled by machine products despite their development because they carry the spirit of their weaver.
The wooden loom consists of the barrel, the rudder, the top and bottom fold, the shuttle, the yoke, the comb, the warp, the coolant, the reel of kheitan, the matit, the pedals and the pulleys, as the uncle Al-Masdi explained, indicating that he developed the loom in line with the market requirements while preserving its old shape.
The products of the seventieth uncle range from towels, bathrobes, small napkins, bedspreads, curtains and jackets, as it is clear that knitting one meter requires two hours of time and every 20 thousand accuracy on the loom completes a piece with its artistic and creative aspects measuring 50 to 60 cm.
Al-Masdi added that every 2 millimeter of silk thread needs 40 precision, while 2 cm of cotton thread needs 24 precision, explaining that working on the loom requires great time, effort, artistic sense and focus, in addition to patience and talent.
The piece of art may require more than one person’s effort, starting from the saddle who wraps the linear lines of the cloth on rollers, then the castor who enters the strings into the yoke and the comb to come in the role of the weaver who accomplishes the piece and puts it in the hands of the embroiderer who conveys aesthetic sense using simple carvings and ends with the reed that takes place. Make a knot at the end of the towels.
Al-Masdi said that each of these people adds his artistic touch, wishing the new generation to continue this traditional craft and protect it from extinction.
Nour Youssef