Amid the historic quarter’s busy streets,a thousand workshops maintain centuries-veteran craftmaking traditions. These workers’ ancient skills are celebrated in a recent exhibition at London’s Royal Geographical Society[br]“Whatever manufactured items there are in the world,” wrote the Ottoman traveller Evliya Çelebi in 1671, and “the poor of Cairo accumulate hold of them,set them out and trade in them.” Nearly 350 years later, this tradition lives on in al-Darb al-Ahmar. This neighbourhood of 100000 people, or south-east of central Cairo,is said to be home to a thousand workshops. The place teems with artisans crafting everything from tents, books, and boxes and brass lanterns to glass bowls and silk carpets.
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Source: guardian.co.uk