Hassan Al-Masry - Cairo
Sitting in front of an oven with a temperature close to a thousand degrees Celsius, unconcerned with its difficult circumstances, relying only on an air fan, and flirting with iron tubes in front of that incandescent furnace, to finally come out of the flames of fire glass forms accepted by the Egyptians and foreigners; It is the handicraft that Egyptians call "blowing glass."
Muhammad Hassan describes the conditions of the profession now. He says, "Unfortunately, the profession is on the brink of extinction in light of the emigration of skilled workers from it, until the number of producing factories does not exceed three in all of Egypt."
Speaking to Al-Jazeera Net, Hassan, the owner of one of the "blowing glass" workshops, said that the economic downturn has led many workers to find other occupations easier than sitting in front of the oven for long hours, especially driving the tuktuk, which provides a greater financial reward than handicraft.
Work begins on the "blowing glass" from early morning, when "Al Sanai" ignites the oven and then puts the rough glass inside it for about half an hour, until the glass becomes capable of forming, decoration and coloring.
Mohamed Hassan explains that the formation of glass is done according to the request of customers, noting that there is more demand for lamps, cups, jugs and Islamic shapes, and there are many colors that tourists love, such as golden, green, turquoise and brown in its degrees.
He explained that the profession of manual glass making is an art that needs skill and high accuracy, where skilled workers form the glass according to the required sizes and shapes, without the need for molds, fees or sizes, the manufacturer does this through his hands and mind only, and at a specific time before it cools The glass is hotter and therefore difficult to shape.
He stressed that the problem facing the industry is the absence of marketing needed by the profession, which threatens it with extinction in light of the weak financial return, calling for the support of the state through advertising for products and promoting tourism, as it is one of the Egyptian culture that tourists accept, and also contributes to raising public taste.