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A gift of the nile, cotton for centuries was one of the best crops that cultivated along the river banks of the delta. The ancient Egyptians used it as shrouds for wrapping their dead.
The American civil war erupted making way for the Egyptian cotton to take over the global market. The British turned to Egypt for their cotton supplies, transforming the country to their own cotton farmland and in 1882 they occupied the country. The British only saw Egypt as an agricultural state, they didn’t support the industry in the country. -
Around cotton everything seems light, like floating clouds of hope that are malleable and interchangeable. But I see now what a labor-intensive crop it is. I feel the burden of the famers as they struggle through the heat, the harsh burns of the sun as they race to finish their shift picking the cotton to avoid the shouts of their chaperones.
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Warda in arabic " A blooming soul" Warda like many other female framers work day and night in the field during the cotton harvest season to look after their families. Most of them used to say, " “we used to say, whoever wants to wed their children they should wait until the harvest season. Everything was tied to the cotton. If you wanted to build a house, it was after you sold your cotton... This was a time when people would sell cotton to buy land, now they are selling whatever they have to pay the debts of the cotton. I have a lot of duties to take care of and what money is usually left won’t even add up to the value of the cost of the yearly hassle spent growing this crop.."
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At the Misr Ginning Factory in El Mehalla opened in 1920’s. Many of these factories are still operated on the old system of machines and hand labor. Requiring many headcount.
While the British only saw as an agriculture state, after their occupation they have built ginning factories along the delta line near every cotton plantation equipping them with the newest and latest ginning machines making Egypt the country with the oldest ginning machines and the oldest ginning factories in the world. -
Found through my grandfather’s archive, 1958 stamp of a female Egyptian Farmer holding a cotton crop flower with “ United Arab Republic” appearing on the top.
After 1952 Coup, President Nasser came supporting the industrialization of the country and encouraged the textile industry. He backed the Egyptian farmer and used the Egyptian cotton as a lucrative weapon. The cotton contributed to the arming of the Egyptian army in the 50s and the 60s, by exporting it to the Soviet Union in return for importing weapons. And in 1969 the cotton reached its highest production in the country’s entire history.
In fact by the end of Nasser’s era, the term “ farmer” or “falah” فلاح was rarely mentioned in any of the following presidential speeches. -
At the Carpet factory part of the larger complex of El Mehalla Spinning and Weaving factory.
The factory was the number one leading textile production company in the nation. It was a major symbol for reforming the Egyptian national identity in the mid 1900 when everything was 100% Egyptian made with pride. I remember my aunt used to tell me that my grandparents used to buy all their home interior fabrics from there when it was in glorious years. As the Egyptian cotton declines over the years and as the country’s efforts are diverted towards other issues, the factory now faces the extinct of this craft as craftsmen no longer exist and people are no longer eager to continue the legacy of this factory and this craft as its being replaced by fast paced advancement machines. -
My grandparents passed away ten years ago leaving a void in all of us. My aunt sitting in her parents room after she moved it to Cairo.
My aunt says
“You kept searching, amina, until you found them… I have never seen Gedo’s belongings before… you’re the one who found them…”
My Aunt told me…
“…your grandfather never talked a lot, we didn’t know many things until he passed away, we were lost; but its my duty to tell you our stories because you should know everything.” -
My grandfather’s office was like a treasure trove where I found his memories.
Documenting the remnants of my identity, and the transitional connection between my personal history and that of a city. Drawing on the legacies of my grandfather, his archives that I unearthed from his office which was always a wonderland for me when was I was a kid. -
A tempting desire to pause time, to immortalize and sanctify my childhood memories. Triggered by an unfinished moment in my childhood memories, I long for the time when everything felt more complete, through the remains of my family home and land. The revelations sparked a longing for familiar grounds where my roots and tree flourished. I realize my fear of letting go of the thread, the tree and the history that bins us. I delve into the metaphorical and underlying meanings of white gold as a larger concept of my national history and personal identity. One that I was shaped by yet only came to know as I grew older and after I lost those who planted my seeds.
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Up until the 1980’s the state was controlling the cotton from seed supply to export. With president Mubarak the collapse continued. The short staple seeds entered the country altering the identity of the long staple Egyptian white cotton and by 1994, the cotton trade was Liberalized, killing the crop.
On April 6, 2008, the first spark of the 2011 Egyptian revolution shot through the voices of the labor workers of El Mehalla Ghazl company. 32,000 workers went on a strike, demanding their rights protesting and calling for improved working conditions and higher wages. -
The former general director of the Misr Spinning and Weaving Company stands inside one of four power plant stations.
Four power plant stations located on the premises of the Misr Spinning and weaving Company, they are what powers the machines and provide power to the factories as well. I was told that up until a certain time they used to power for the whole area of El Mehalla.
