Pottery shop

(January 21, 2014)

This is a pottery shop, spinning its magic, in Egypt:

It was featured on the BBC Arabic as part of the weekly series called "I am the witness." People send in videos of problems or triumphs in their lives or their community's life, and narrate it for all of us. 

Here's some more of the shop's wares.

According to the video, this shop is renowned because of its inventive architecture and its delicate handiwork. They make useful things and ornaments for beauty, bowls for eating and trays of silver. Everything is painted and stenciled with careful designs. Indeed, this shop is the last word in taste, the narrator assures us; but of course, he is a little biased.

The shop-owners were recounting how packed the shop used to be, and bemoaning how empty it is these days, since people are too scared to visit Egypt in the midst of turmoil. 

I say, count your lucky socks that you're not in Iraq, then maybe really nobody would be visiting you.

At the end, the narrator was telling about how famous the shop is. And the "most distinguished visitors the shop ever had" were the King and Queen of Sweden in 1986, the narrator informs us! The shop has a gold frame hanging in the place of honor to prove the fact, and below the picture is a hand-written note; I guess it must be the handwriting of the King and Queen:

Must be nice memories for everyone!

Then the narrator also mentioned that Egypt's last Minister of Culture had visited, and famous artists and the like.

You can watch the full 5-minute clip here, via YouTube.