New Location for Handicrafts Market

The Ministry of Tourism, in cooperation with the Ministries of Awqaf(religious endowments) Culture and Industry, and the Craftsmen’s Union, has established a new site for the Handicrafts Market in the Dummar Central Incubator for Traditional Arts in Damascus.

The Director of Tourism Development at the Ministry of Tourism, Eng. Rama Al-Sheikh, confirmed in a statement to SANA that the work in the incubator will be completed within two weeks to receive and accommodate 40 craftsmen to ensure the continuation of their work and preserve their crafts, as the Ministry ensures that the craftsmen have everything necessary to work within their designated place.

Al-Sheikh stressed that the ministry continues to provide full support to craftsmen in promoting their heritage products, professions and crafts, through the exhibitions that it holds and participates in inside and outside Syria, as work is underway to include an item for visiting the incubator within the programs of the Travel and Tourism offices.

The Executive Director of the incubator Lou’ay Shekou said: “We have  worked in cooperation with the Ministry and the Federation of Chambers of Tourism  to equip places and lounges with a total area of 650 to 850 square meters, which are carefully determined by a competent committee that examines the needs of each craftsman, his production supplies and raw materials.

He explained that there are places dedicated to training and educating various crafts and occupations, as well as the advantage of industrial, commercial, tourist and crafts licenses granted to the incubator, whose merits the craftsman will receive.

The Chairman of the Sulaymaniyah Tekiya Committee and the Head of the Division of Heritage Occupations, Arafat Otta Bashi noted the keenness of all craftsmen in coordination with the relevant authorities to develop and strengthen their presence in the markets, through their participation in local and foreign exhibitions, in order to restore the brilliance of Syrian products famous for their durability, accuracy and creativity.

The craftsmen showed that the new place they acquired within the incubator provided them with sufficient space to carry out their work and display their products, pointing to the incubator’s role in preserving heritage occupations, as it contains many training halls that allow all craftsmen to teach their children and transmit their heritage to future generations.

 They also stressed the importance of gathering a large number of craftsmen in one place, such as an incubator, because of the broader partnership it achieves with craftsmen and professionals, which contributes to the development of each craft and creates new ideas that enrich products and their maker.

On December 8, 2020, the General Federation of Craftsmen’s Central Incubator for Heritage Arts opened on 13 dunums as an integrated production development project. It aims to preserve heritage crafts from extinction and train current generations on them by master craftsmen, who have been carefully selected to improve young talents, graduate a generation of skilled craftsmen, produce craft products and create internal and external markets for these products.

Amal Farhat