article · Issue No. 11, December 1948 · p. 37 p. 39 p. 40

Lebanese Handicrafts

L'Artisanat Libanais

"There is great misery in the villages . . . . . . . . . . . . ." This most poignant line of Georges Chéhadé sums up in a few words the origin of a very great work. Indeed, the acute crisis of the years that preceded the last great war having made the situation in the mountain almost tragic, the poverty that followed upon unemployment became so alarming that a veritable rural exodus was to be feared, endangering the future of the peasants, and perhaps definitively compromising the heritage of the fine ancestral virtues handed down from generation to generation.

The evil had to be checked at its beginnings at any cost, or at the very least its damage limited...

Thanks to the admirable and courageous initiative of Madame Emile Eddé, seconded in her devotion by an elite of ladies of the best society, the revival of the Lebanese Artisanat, a national work above all others, was to be born without delay. By bringing back to life the fine trades of former days, which had made the renown of Lebanese craftsmanship, hundreds of families could be helped, while allowing them to remain in their own homes.

Like all undertakings of this scope, the Artisanat has had, since its founding, to face the greatest difficulties in order to live and to grow.

It was necessary, before all else, to know the needs of the country, to study closely the possibilities of the villages, to make the trades already in existence prosper, to revive them where they had declined, even to create them where there had never been any.

Moreover, it was necessary to recruit willing hands, to find an exhibition hall in the center of the capital, to assure the sale of the products, and above all to finance the work.

A lottery made it possible to gather the first funds. A little later, government aid, individual gifts, the subscriptions, and above all the generosity of the emigrants made the full realization of the project possible. The work was launched — not without difficulty, to be sure — but the results were at once consoling. Godmothers were assigned to each village to distribute the work, oversee its execution, and help in perfecting the production. Very quickly, it must be acknowledged, they instilled in the artisans the taste for work well done, and the public gave their efforts a warm welcome. The war momentarily cut short this remarkable rise. Raw materials became scarce and exorbitant in price. Means of transport difficult and costly. America no longer sent anything. The new situation had to be faced. The ladies of the work spent themselves without counting the cost to make up for all these deficiencies, and their zeal was not long in being rewarded.

"The Artisanat knew, thanks to them, a great expansion. Imports being impossible because of the war, local orders became more numerous and better paid."

The exhibition hall, situated on the entresol of the Parliament, became much frequented; the sales figure increased; the subscriptions, the contributions, the gifts flowed in.

The Artisanat radiated across the whole mountain. Some forty villages were visited. More than a thousand workers received work.

In these last years, the re-establishment of communications with the outside world has lessened the intensity of production. The ease of exchange with foreign countries, the enormous influx onto the market of manufactured articles at modest prices, the difficulty one still finds in obtaining certain raw materials — such as raffia and cotton yarn — continue to bring about a slowing in the sale of our products. Certain villages have had to be abandoned for want of raw materials.

Others have seen their orders diminish. On the other hand, some remain very prosperous, thanks to the exceptional quality of their production and to the tireless zeal of their godmothers, ever devoted, ever faithful, ever indefatigable, pursuing without respite the arduous task they have been good enough to take upon themselves. The weavings of Zouk continue to be extremely prized. The woolen layettes of Ghazir, the wool lace of Haret Sakhr, the basketry of Majdalaya, the socks, the gloves, the needle lace of Araya. The sweaters of Jbeil,

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the embroideries of Jounieh and its surroundings, the woolens of Choueifat, the Breton lace of Deir el-Kamar and Beiteddine, the American table sets of Hsarat, the fine lingerie and the luxury knitwear of Beirut, always much in vogue, pay eloquent homage to the careful work of the artisans, as to the devotion and competence of the persons in charge of the enterprise.

Although the turnover has reached 200,000 (two hundred thousand) Lebanese liras, the receipts made up of the annual subscriptions and gifts now amount to no more than 1,500 Lebanese liras.

One thinks with dread of what would happen if, for want of money and good will, so many villages, which cost such pains to rescue from their misery, had to be abandoned once more to their fate. But the work is of public utility and far too fine to disappear. And no doubt a Providence keeps watch, which will know, through the most varied difficulties, how to bring at the needed time the needed help.

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