Syrian silks on verge of collapse
Buffeted by economic realities that have forced farmers to replace
mulberry trees with olive groves and fruit orchards, Syria's once-famous
silk industry is these days hanging by a very fine thread.
In the green mountains of Deir Mama in western Syria, near the
imposing Masyaf citadel, Mohammed Saud and his family however still
raise silk worms in the spring and still spin the loom in the autumn,
determined to keep the ancient tradition alive.
"We are in this from A to Z. From raising the silkworm to making the
shawl," said Saud defiantly, even though he would make more money simply
by selling his cocoons.
Product slump
A Syrian silkmaker |
He knows the odds are stacked against him. While the Levant once
enjoyed world fame for its silk production, the past century has seen
the demand for the luxury product slump and the numbers of mulberry
farmers dwindle.
"Sales are not enough to cover our efforts and expenses but we are
convinced that this ancient and beautiful craft should continue," said
Saud.
Today only 16 villages and 48 families work in sericulture. Saud
blames the rising cost of living which over the past two decades in
particular has pushed farmers to diversify into olive and fruit
production. Cocoon harvests have dropped from 60,000 tonnes in 1908 to
just a couple of tonnes in the past few years.
Saud and his family harvest around 35 kilograms (77 pounds) of
cocoons per season. From the end product, shawls, they earn around 8,000
Syrian pounds (120 euros/166 dollars) annually, less than the average
monthly salary here.
High prices
While the shawls sell at high prices - from 3,000 to 8,000 Syrian
pounds (47 to 125 euros/65 to 172 dollars) - sales are low as travellers
mainly come for the medieval castles in the area.
And foreign tourists are the only ones tempted to shell out for the
high-quality shawls.
"Only the foreigner understands the value of silk," said Saud. "Our
marketing is all done by word of mouth."
There is some hope - the ministries of agriculture and tourism
launched a scheme two years ago in a bid to revive the moribund silk
industry.
Under the scheme, mulberry farmers such as Saud now get 250 Syrian
pounds - nearly four euros - for every kilo of cocoons produced,
regardless of whether these sell or not. The initiative is credited with
boosting cocoon production from 2.6 tonnes in 2009 to 3.1 tonnes in
2010.
"It was an important and necessary step," said Saud. "Syria's silk
production - and especially cocoon production - was dropping fast."
The scheme offers the hope that Syria will be able to continue to
carry out all stages of silk production, the only country left in the
region able to do so. Industry veterans and academics pin silk's
century-long decline on the fixed pricing of cocoons, the mechanisation
of production, state monopolisation and malpractices that put private
factories out of business in 1975, plus a plunge in global demand. The
industry leader - a state-run factory in Dreikish, near the port city of
Tartous - collapsed in 2008.
The Mezannar factory in Damascus, which put Damascene brocade on the
map, was shut down this summer to make way for commercial development on
the eastern edges of the old city.
"It was a beautiful factory, part of the national heritage," said
Hubert Mezannar, who relocated ancient machines and a handful of
committed workers to the industrial suburb of Daraa.
"I left like a defeated army: machines broken, product stolen."
His father had opened the factory in 1890. It quickly became a
gateway for Lyonnais labour, which brought design and weaving techniques
into the Levant.
Mezannar took over the factory after completing his studies at the
school of weaving and textile industries in Lyon in 1953.
The factory focused on brocade, a tissue of oriental designs made
from silver and gold silk threads. Some of the designs are now on
display at the Lyon silk museum.
"Despite all the discoveries," says Mezannar, "the most beautiful and
expensive fibre is still natural silk. It's not me who says this. It's
the world."
French mandate
Historians say strong commercial links between Lyon and the Levant
played a key role in the establishment of a French mandate in Syria and
Lebanon after World War I. About 90 percent of the silk produced by
these two countries ended up in France.
During world War II, Levantine factories - including Mezannar's -
worked day and night to supply Britain with large silk sheets needed to
make parachutes.
But the factory's production did not peak until the sixties when
Syria was the lead silk exporter in the region.
Mezannar says the factory used to produce thousands of metres (yard)
of silk a month. Now it only produces a few hundred and sells its
products in his son's shop in the silk souk of old city Damascus. He
says pro-tourism policies help but factories also need lower taxes and
greater access to the international market.
"Today our production is minimal, artisanal," he told AFP. "It is not
the end of silk but the industry is agonising."
Syrian author Maya al-Kateb is battling to revive interest in this
craft in a book entitled "Syrian Silk: Portrait of a Living Cultural
Heritage" to be released in December.
She says marketing and tourism are the two forces that can save
Syria's natural silk production by connecting local farmers to foreign
buyers.
"There are no major industries so every small industry is important,"
she says. "We need to save Syrian silk because of its historical and
cultural value." DAMASCUS (AFP) |