Traditional wood engraving…..Majestic deep-rooted handicraft revived by Syrian young men

The traditional craft of engraving on wood has preserved its originality as a very ancient craft, and it has witnessed changes over centuries of time, but the essence of the craft remained constant and preserved its originality.

This distinguished  handicraft depends on different types of wood which gave the old Damascene houses a unique beauty and earned considerable popularity among Syrians and tourists alike.

The sons of  Mahmoud Dardoura,who came to  Damascus  in the eighties of the last century from the province of “Idlib, mastered the craft of their fathers and grandfathers, and learned the art of engraving  wood which are decorated with shells brought from  the “Euphrates” river in “Deirez-Zor”. The sons   continued their mastery and creativity, and passed it down from generation to generation, to form a unique heritage.

Firas Mahmoud Dardoura said in his interview with the E-Syrian (blog)  “My brothers  and my father carried this  craft in its smallest details  and  secrets, from the moment the wood was selected to turning it into attractive pieces”.

He stressed “ Our love for this crafts  starts from the moment we choose a piece of wood (walnut or beech) which should be  dried up for at least   least five years, so we can start working on  with our hands and tools such as file, vise, hammer and chisel, and some of the machines that we have created for this purpose”.

Firas indicated that his  father managed to manufacture new wood materials of various sizes and uses including  tables,  bedrooms, chairs, mirrors, hospitality boxes  inlaying with seashells, copper and silver as well as gold water, glass  and marble.

“The  expansion of  our work  in the early nineties provided us an opportunity  to work outside  Syria and  established our own workshop in Lebanon and proved  our distinguished presence in this craft. Through our unique work we  managed to be distinguished successful ambassadors for our country  in  Egypt  and Jordan,  the Arab Gulf  , Britain and America” Firassaid.

He went on to say “ we returned back to Syria to revive our work and we opened our own establishment for Orientals,  which was officially registered ,  including different departments such as  production, marketing and public relations  and we managed to revive the export process   through  Damascus International Airport  Lebanon”.

Heritage preservation

The sons of Mahmoud Dardoura were keen on preserving the country’s  deep-rooted heritage and their workshops were ready to  welcome young people from their relatives and talented people who wanted to learn this craft, from childhood  as  summer clubs were opened to teach children this craft.

The ambition of Dardoura’sis not limited only  to inlay wood with shells as they  seek to revive  the Syrian  heritage and consolidating its civilizational identity, through holding  meetings with   many well-known craftsmen of   the manufacture of  glass and most of the copper crafts  within a large  workshop.

RawaaGhanam