Syrian heritage lover exhibits his own collection of old rural items to recall folk heritage

Cultural memory is the link between past, present and future . It  is formed by symbolic heritage collections embodied in texts, rites,  monuments , celebrations and  traditional objects.

Within the framework of recalling  the memories of fathers and grandfathers and the rural life at that time with its simplicity, spontaneity and the most accurate details, sixty-year old Ismail Mahmoud, who is  from the town of Dalya, in the countryside of Jableh in Lattakia, has collected  various old and diverse heritage items  since  his childhood to be displayed  in his town  . 

Dozens of wooden, stone and pottery tools and equipment are displayed at  what Mr. Mahmoud called  “the Folk Heritage Exhibition”, whose walls resemble the walls of traditional old mud houses with the  wooden “column” in the middle  which is  topped by a beacon.

Mahmoud  explained to SANA  that  the  traditional pieces  at the exhibition  include  tools  for domestic use, such as the wooden old baby bed, , the dough bowl, the wooden chair ,  big  straw dishes, which are used  to provide meat, offerings, millstones, bulgur wheat, and a special wooden stone pestle for the manufacture of figs, bowls   for storing grains, lanterns and  lamps.

He added  that the exhibits also included  other tools for  agricultural purposes  such as the yoke ,  the sickle for harvesting wheat , the pitchfork to separate the grain from the straw, the thrush, the straw, the spindle, and other wooden tools used in raising silkworms and  distilling  rose water.

“I have always been fascinated by the heritage pieces that used to decorate the house of my parents and relatives, and I am keen to acquire them when I know people’s  desire to get rid of them because they no longer fit the designs of their modern homes,” according to  Mahmoud.

He stressed  that the aim of the exhibition, which he founded with his own individual efforts, is to highlight the authenticity of rural heritage and introduce the way of life of the  ancestors  and their tools  and preserve  them from extinction.

The sixty-year old man  pointed  out that “ it is our duty to be the link between our fathers, our children and our grandchildren, and to introduce to them  this precious treasure so that generations can benefit  from  the ancestors’ experiences  and be a beacon for them to face all  challenges.

Mahmoud ’s hobbies were not limited to collecting heritage pieces, as he excelled in the field of drawing. The farmer’s life, simplicity and love for his land were a source of inspiration for many of his paintings, in addition to simulating the charming nature and its aesthetic elements which motivated  his abilities and unleashed his imagination to embody them in artworks .

It is  worth mentioning  that Ismail Mahmoud Ali  is  interested in poetry , especially improvisational and Zajal. He has been a calligrapher and painter for five decades as he  draws  on paper, walls, and fabrics.

Rawaa Ghanam