Three days weaving in Aswan
With Mona Hassan · Aswan, Upper Egypt
Three days at my floor loom in Aswan. You will dress the loom together with me, choose the stripe sequence for a small piece, and weave it start to finish. On the third day we visit the Nubade cooperative and you see the full range of what the women there make. You leave with the piece you wove and a clear sense of what the tradition is.
- Duration
- 3 days
- Location
- Mona's workshop, Aswan, Upper Egypt
- Max students
- 2 per cohort
A small woven piece in a Nubian stripe pattern that you chose and wove yourself. An understanding of how the displacement affected the tradition and what was preserved. Nadia's contact — she is the next generation.
Anyone interested in textile craft. No experience needed — the loom teaches you. Also good for people with Nubian heritage who want a connection to the tradition.
3 days in detail
Day one: dressing the loom — winding, threading, and tying up
Day one afternoon: the first fifty rows, learning to beat evenly
Day two: weaving the main body of the piece, adjusting for tension
Day three morning: finishing, cutting from the loom, knotting the fringe
Day three afternoon: visit to the Nubade cooperative and meeting with other weavers
Mona Hassan
Nubian handwoven cotton · Aswan, Upper Egypt, Egypt
An Amussu regional coordinator has visited this artisan in person, seen the workspace, and confirmed they make what they sell.
I weave on a floor loom that my father brought from the village we lived in before the dam. The High Dam displaced our village in 1964. Most of what we had went underwater. The loom came with us. I weave the geometric patterns that are specific to our part of Nubia — bold colours, strong lines, cotton warp. A throw takes me three weeks. I do not make anything quickly. I have been weaving for thirty years and the loom still surprises me. If you want to collaborate, tell me the colours in your room and I will tell you what I can make that will work in it.
In the archive
Mona has documented this tradition in detail in the Amussu Archive. It is free to read.