| Description: | The Moytamadea Project was founded in 1982, at the initiative of a lay sister called Maria. It is located in the northeast of Cairo, in a region considered to be agricultural land by the municipality, so that no infrastructure is available. Currently, sixty families are participating in the project. Most of these families are garbage workers, and the entire family of men, women, and children help in sorting the garbage. There is no drinking water or sewage connection in this region. The inhabitants need to buy their water from the drinking water cart, which may come every other day or once a week on a first come first serve basis. The amount of water supplied does not meet the needs of a family. The sewage is carted out of the cesspools when needed, that is, if all goes well.
The embroidery centre started to find new sources of income for the women. The pieces, which are sold to wealthy Egyptians and tourists, help to support the women and their families, as well as the co-operative.
When asked to produce pictures for the exhibition "The Art of Survival", many of the women did not understand. Traditionally, their pictures depict palm trees, camels, suns, rivers, and pleasant landscapes. When asked why they depict clothes they don't even wear, one woman asked, "So, should I depict my husband, how he carries garbage?" That, exactly, is what the curators asked them to do for this exhibition. The embroidered arpilleras they eventually created, and which were displayed as a collection in "The Art of Survival" exhibition, mirror scenes from their own lives.
|
