Regretfully straw chair craft disappearing in Saida

In its issue of today, Al Mustaqbal newspaper brought to light the making of straw chairs in Saida, with a special focus on the Kuusa family atelier located on the water front of the southern capital facing the fish market. The artisan studio, Al Mustaqbal wrote, attracts passersby with its distinctive chairs, antiques, traditional engraving items, as well as, tents and curtains beautifully handmade from a merge of wood, straw and bamboo by skilled craftspeople. What distinguishes the Kousa family, and other families of artists still working in the craft, is their reliance on manual labor, while employing primitive tools, such as saws, from time to time, Al Mustaqbal said. The traditional trade which stayed alive in specialized stores in Old Saida district, is now threatened with extinction if it does not receive the proper official and cultural support by encouraging people to decorate their homes with heritage pieces. The newspaper pointed out that artisan families have demanded placing the traditional craft studios on the local tourism map in Saida and Lebanon to contribute to the development and restoration of the sector, thus preserving it as a cultural heritage and identity of the city and, at the same time, sustain a livelihood resource for many families. (Al Mustaqbal, August 3, 2017)

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