New work dump + me and jiji (her name is not jiji but I call her jiji). Also saved the best forrr lassst so swipe through 👉🏽
Music by @therealrussy_ and my brother @shee3o
An Egyptian holding a cotton blossom.
Cotton was the lifeline of Egypt for hundreds of years before it became a tool of subjugation and eventually led to the British occupation of Egypt from 1882 to 1954! It wasn’t so much the blossom itself that wreaked such havoc on the tender hands that planted, harvested, spun and weaved it, as it was the exploitation of this beautiful flower.
The production of cotton in Egypt is as old as written records. Earliest written evidence of the cotton harvests date back to 500 BCE. This long history had Egypt producing cotton weaves in a heterogeneous manner beginning with a diversity in crops and ending with a diversity in weaves.
Everything changed with the British expansion eastwards in the 17th century. After having used the cotton harvest to solidify his rule in Egypt, Muhammad Ali eventually caved to the necessity of the European colonial trade to gain intl. trade recognition. The British were only interested in specific strands of cotton crops and consequently forced a streamlining of said crops, halting a millenia old development of cotton diversity. Additionally they were only interested in raw crops because the weaving could be more streamlined in modern english factories. Rather than paying crafting hands for the textile production they imported the cotton crops from Egypt and mechanically spun and wove the cotton. This way they could produce mass-manufactured fabrics which produced higher profit margins.
The diversity of the crops was necessary to provide quality fabrics for different social strata, which would falter by the unification of farm-work towards long-staple cotton crops. Additionally the integration of the Egyptian market, with no internal political program regulating the industry, had craftsworkers out of business in no time and killed the textile production industry at the time.
After millennia of planting, spinning, weaving and sewing our own unique dress we were eventually stripped of our own resources within 2 decades and forced to become a cog in a colonial machine.
Today I hold this blossom in my hand and weep.
It’s the birth of my reign of terror.
I’m a little indecisive about how my character is going to be as a seamstress/ textile artist but I’m picking up strong “drama and bling” vibe from the development, and so I shall go forth with it 🤸🏽♀️
🖼️ Thread's of Liberation this Saturday will be featuring 5 outstanding artists who will put their art on display at @refugeworldwide.space 😍
@safa_creates@jomana_haithem@waterandseeds.threadsofhope@shoxnerdbox@artsysumi
✨💕
These artists initially bonded through the regular practice of Palestinian tatreez. But their friendship has grown over the past two years through activism, community organizing, and moral support. Many of them are exhibiting their works publicly for the first time.
Special shout out to @safa_creates for helping the team coordinate the art exhibition and the effort to support her fellow artist & comrades 🙏
❤️
🗓️ Saturday, November 15th
⏱️ 14:00 - 22:00
📍 Niemetzstrasse 1, 12055
✨ Donation based entry
