Livelihoods in Crafts and Artisanal WorldPossibilities for Syrian Refugee and Lebanese Cooperation

The Continuity of Shared Traditions

UNHCR Livelihoods : Finding global markets for traditional crafts

Every day refugees cross borders from home to host countries with little to call their own but with skills and vocations intact. In Lebanon, over 1 million people who fled violence in Syria are struggling to make ends meet while putting a strain on Lebanese infrastructure and increasing competition for jobs. The UNHCR global Livelihoods Program supports self-reliance by assessing refugees’ interests, skills and productive assets and matching them with market opportunities. However, with the refugee population projected to comprise over one-third of Lebanon’s population by the end of 2014, UNHCR is also focusing on finding ways to ease tensions between the two communities. Promoting livelihood opportunities for both communities is one of these ways. The arts and crafts sector offers opportunities for skill transference and an increased job market benefitting refugees and Lebanese alike.

Within Lebanon, the design, arts and crafts scene has some well-known innovators who have achieved much acclaim. Combining the renowned entrepreneurial spirit of these Lebanese entrepreneurs and their flair for design with the skills of talented men and women artisans provides a promising entry point for meaningful and mutually beneficial livelihoods programs. Many Syrians are highly skilled in traditional arts and crafts – either formally as professional artisans, or informally through, for example, the fine embroidery work done at home. Over 15% of Syrian refugees identify themselves as artisans. These traditions have been practiced for millennia and many of the designs are unique to the region. However they have little presence in the global market. UNHCR aims to increase the demand for traditional crafts from Lebanon by identifying an international market for these high quality products and providing access to global marketplaces, including online markets.

UNHCR would provide or facilitate access to business skills training, including financial skills, and literacy and numeracy where needed, as well as IT know-how to best access online markets. Lebanese businesses would be able to draw on the labor force of skilled Syrian and Lebanese craftspeople to design innovative and attractive products while accessing new and wider markets. Refugees would be provided with an opportunity to use their skills and generate income to support their new lives in exile. They would become an added value to a burdened economy.

These programs would support what has already been a long history of cooperation between the Lebanese and the Syrians in handicrafts. Equally important, they would foster greater social cohesion and understanding between refugees and host communities while creating economic opportunities for both.

Meet IbrahimFormerly the owner of his own business in Syria, he exported his wares to the Gulf countries as well as to a shop in Lebanon. He now has a workshop in the same shop’s basement, along with four other handicraft workers. His wife does embroidery from home, while the children attend school. Many more Syrian refugees could be supporting themselves.

Primary MaterialsMother of pearl sourced from the Tigris River in Syria.

Restoration of an old chest, undertaken by Syrian refugee artisans.

Modern InterpretationsSimplified versions of the art of mother of pearl inlay. Preserving the art while creating modern, easy to reproduce versions suitable for new markets.

Lebanese Entrepreneurs and WorkshopsThis Lebanese owned workshop is the largest in Lebanon. Alongside the Lebanese artisans, they have hired several Syrian refugees who are admired for their skills. However, their own business is suffering with the loss of the tourist trade. If they had more orders, they would hire more skilled workers.

The Hands of a RefugeeThe hands of a refugee at work, creating beautiful objects for others’ homes, even as his own has been destroyed. He carries with him his dignity and centuries worth of skills.

The ProcessThe tin inlay wire has already been inserted in the painstakingly carved outline of the pattern, flush with the wood. Now the areas that will contain the mother of pearl are being carved out.

Suited to Today’s HomesModern boxes simplified by using traditional designs, but in abstracted or repeated patterns, make these accessories modern and fashionable . On this page are the designs already being produced in a workshop in Lebanon. On the adjacent page are the designs of a Syrian designer currently seeking refuge in the country.

Traditional Hammered Metal Work Hammering patterns on tin, brass and copper is a craft practiced across the Middle East. The artisans of the Levant are famous for their renditions. The metal is bought at its global commodity price, and it is a low impact work process, requiring only hand tools and skills. This makes it ecological as well as relatively low-cost to produce.

Modern While Keeping with TraditionThese tables are being produced by Syrian refugees and can be made in tin, to keep costs low.

Meet FatimaFifth in generations of metal artisans, Fatima is the only Lebanese woman to practice the profession of metal working. Her father had four daughters and no sons, and she convinced him to pass on his skills to her. She has her own workshop, independent from her father’s and her husband’s; her designs are distinct from theirs too. She hires Lebanese artisans as full time workers. Occasionally, she hires Syrian refugees as day laborers, when there are more orders. She praises the skills of these day workers. If there was more commercial interest in these goods, she would happily train and hire more.

Glass BlowingGlass blowing factories have existed in Lebanon and Syria for 2000 years, and indeed this art form is said to have been invented here in Phoenician times. Many of the designs haven’t changed in millennia and yet are well-suited to today’s tables and homes. Most of the objects produced are from recycled glass, scavenged from garbage sites. Therefore, a factory produces items of only one color for several weeks at a time. As the process involves diesel fuel, it has a relatively high running cost. In the absence of orders and sales outlets, the famous factories of Damascus and Tripoli have already closed. One remains open, in Sarafand in the south of Lebanon.

Soap ProductionThis Lebanese soap producer in Tripoli has learned the skill from his forefathers. The production site has remained the same, a 12th century caravanserai in the heart of the old town. The technique hasn’t changed either: families bring him local olive oil and, if they wish, their own floral essences, and from these he fashions beautiful soaps.

Many Syrians have identified themselves as soap makers, and this is also something for which training could be provided to both Lebanese and Syrians. Pictured above are soaps in the form of limes, made with lime flower essence, that are wonderful in smell and known to have healing properties for the skin.

Women’s Work in Homes: Crochet, Needlepoint and Cross-StitchMost women are taught these skills as part of their education. Cultural constraints mean many women work from home or during women’s hours in community centers. Many NGOs have started working to train and produce around these skills. Contemporary interpretations of these designs would make them very marketable.

Basma w Zeitoune GroupA new NGO run by Lebanese and Syrian youth through private donations, Basma w Zeitoune work from a Palestinian refugee camp where many Syrian refugees are now living. The founders, pictured here, work with approximately 80 women, in both cross-stitch and crochet. They have also partnered with Médecins Sans Frontières and run a free clinic at their center.

Market CreationWhen kept simple and in neutral tones, these items have great potential. There are also Syrian and Lebanese designers creating fresh designs using these traditional works. This could be a source of income for Syrian and Lebanese women, but there must be a market identified for these products.

Home Work in the BekaaThese next three pages showcase some creations of Syrian refugees working with a local NGO in the Bekaa in eastern Lebanon. These Syrians are in some of the municipalities with tensions at breaking point, but when women work side by side, they take their attitudes of cooperation and unity home with them. The income generated by their work also eases the pressures on their partners to provide and survive as refugees.

These artisans are highly skilled. The following page shows a very large piece of embroidery used as a bedcover or curtains. These designs are common to many Mediterranean countries but are far more costly in Southern Europe. Finding a way for this sector to access the global marketplace is essential to solving many problems faced by both refugee and host communities in Lebanon.

Modern InterpretationsThese next pages show updated interpretations of the same forms of embroidery practiced by the women of Syria. These designs are the work of Kinana, a Syrian designer now living in Beirut.

Oya and Bead Embroidery as DecorationHere is a lovely way to incorporate these designs in everyday objects: taking locally sourced loofahs and a silk shawl (following page) and embellishing them with hand-made embroidery. A luxurious touch, but with not many to value it.

For Syrian Children’s EducationThese dolls are made by Lebanese and Syrian women’s groups at home. Our partner NGOs are overseeing the production through microfinance loans. If these find resonance with a global outlet, the proceeds could go towards children’s education.

Preserving the Souks and Traditions of Syria and LebanonPhotography, graphic design and text by Shalini Mehan for UNHCR.

THESE HANDS CARRY CENTURIES OF SKILL

Joint Lebanese and Syrian refugee crafts projects will create livelihood opportunities for both communities, while keeping alive centuries of tradition and arts, which are slowly dying as a result of the ongoing conflict. Many workshops in Syria can no longer function and the

Lebanese markets have dried up with the marked reduction of tourism.