Sakkah Hussami, a 53-year old artisan, has spent 40 years in his profession and laments that this traditional craft is on the verge of extinction. “During the past few years, no one has become an artisan,” he says.
Pottery in Tunisia reached its prime centuries ago and prospered with the flourishing tourism sector. However, with the decline of Tunisian tourism, many artisans like Hussami fear the extinction of their craft.
Sakkah Hussami, a 53-year old artisan, has spent 40 years in his profession and laments that this traditional craft is on the verge of extinction. “During the past few years, no one has become an artisan,” he says.
Pottery in Tunisia reached its prime centuries ago and prospered with the flourishing tourism sector. However, with the decline of Tunisian tourism, many artisans like Hussami fear the extinction of their craft.
The thriving of traditional crafts after independence (1952 – 1956) was associated with the flourishing tourism sector, which constituted more than 80% of the demand. By the early 1980s, the state realized that pottery needed embellishment; thus, a number of artisans were sent to China to learn techniques and pottery and ceramic decoration. This move bore fruit because it created embellishment experts who established the rules of this craft later on. Until recently, embellishment in this craft had depended on ‘stampers’ who inscribe geometric designs onto the pottery.
The number of artisans registered as pottery and ceramic professionals in Nabeul (70 km north east of Tunis) is around 2,000. This pottery subsector has 600 ateliers and 70 exporting companies.
However, it is no secret now that this craft is teeming with competitors and is endangered, especially for the four remaining artisans who stick to traditional methods and reject modern technologies or designs. They have grown old and are unable to pass this craft on to their children, not to mention the market dumping with cheap Chinese goods, pushing many traditional Tunisian products, not only pottery, into recession.
Modernity versus tradition
On the other hand, artisans believe that modern workshops using gas kilns have contributed to killing those using traditional firewood, which are more exhausting and require much physical effort.
Hussami says bitterly that he was forced to produce modern vessels that can be sold in markets, to earn a living and “to sustain his forefathers’ craft, even in a deformed way.”
Traditional industries are the country’s second largest employer after agriculture. This is why the government is striving to revive it, to increase foreign reserves and stimulate growth. Traditional crafts, particularly those associated with tourism, have been the hardest hit as a result of declining purchasing power and the reluctance of tourists to come to Tunisia.
Consequently, artisans are experiencing harsh conditions this season; some were forced to close down due to the recession and the collapse of tourism after the revolution. In addition, Islamists’ coming into power has, in one way or another, contributed to the reluctance of tourists to visit Tunisia, let alone uncertain international players about the latest developments in the Tunisian political arena.
Despite the ruling Islamic Ennahda Movement’s reassurances to foreign friends and partners, the present indicators do not guarantee full recovery of the sector.
Among the reasons behind the decline of the crafts sector is market dumping with highly competitive cheap Chinese goods. The same applies to traditional African products, which enjoy a boost given the rising number of African students in Tunisia.
Most people criticize the current and past governments for not giving crafts the necessary attention and not encouraging the youth to practice the forefathers’ craft to save it from extinction.
Tijani Makhlouf, a workshop owner, insisted that the state “is actually taking part in undermining this craft by allowing fake Chinese products to access our markets”. He considered the government decision to move all artisans outside the city – allegedly to preserve the urban architectural heritage – a key factor behind the youth reluctance to learn this craft. Makhlouf says: “He who loses his past will have neither present nor future.”
