Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi on art: How an Egyptian weaving village became a lesson in the power of giving

A busy village scene in the Upper Egyptian Delta depicts a crowd of men harvesting corn and placing it on the backs of animals of burden, while women look after the children nearby. In the bottom-left corner, four men gather around a fire, possibly hinting that the scene is set in the autumn months, coinciding with the end of the corn harvest season in Egypt.

The background is peppered with dome-topped houses, palm trees and birds. This scenic tapestry was created by Garya Mahmoud, one of the Ramses Wissa Wassef Art Centre’s first-generation weavers. The centre was founded by the prominent architect Ramses Wissa Wassef and his wife, Sophie Habib Gorgi, in 1951, and it initially employed 45 women and men in weaving, stoneware and batik painting. Ramses was behind several major projects, such as the Mahmoud Mokhtar Museum, opened in Cairo in 1962, and a string of churches and private residences across Egypt. Through the art centre, Ramses and Sophie envisioned a unique space that would give others opportunities that would allow them to earn a livelihood.

In a 2018 interview with Masrawy, Sophie, recalling the conversation that prompted the creation of the centre, stated: “One day [Ramses] said to me, 'Why don’t we look for a simple village with quiet people and start a project that brings the place to life and helps the villagers learn something different?'”

That village would be Harraniya, 15km south-west of central Cairo, not far from the Giza Pyramids. The couple could have simply opted for charity, but they chose to empower this “simple village” and “bring the place to life”, an act that embodies the proverb “give a person a fish and you feed them for a day; teach them how to fish and you feed them for a lifetime”.

This spirit of generosity, selflessness and encouragement towards independence must be celebrated and commended whether it comes from an individual, a corporation or a country. The Arab Gulf states, too, have historically been among the most generous in terms of global aid.

For instance, the Kuwait Fund for Development was founded in 1961 under Emir Sheikh Abdullah, as the world’s first development fund established by a developing country. Since its founding, it has extended loans to build schools and other infrastructure in more than 100 countries, continuing work even during Kuwait’s occupation in 1990-1991.

Similarly, the UAE has been one of the world’s most generous countries relative to its size, contributing 0.61 per cent of its GDP, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, to developing and disaster-stricken nations.

Last November, the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs ranked the UAE as the third-largest donor of humanitarian aid globally for 2025, after the US and the EU. Since its founding in 1971, the UAE has delivered close to $100 billion in foreign aid, and today it is the world’s largest humanitarian donor to Gaza, providing $3.9 billion in aid, or close to half the global assistance, including the building of field hospitals and desalination plants.

That said, not all acts of kindness are measured in billions or even millions of dollars. Often, small acts of generosity go a long way and lead to lifelong bonds.

Mahmoud developed a close friendship with the founders, and when their daughter Suzanne, herself a stoneware ceramic designer, became engaged in 1972, the weaver created a tapestry to celebrate the occasion, depicting the couple and other family members.

Since its establishment, scores of artisans and artists have benefitted from the Ramses Wissa Wassef Centre, and some, such as Mahmoud’s own daughter, Naglaa, have continued the legacies of their mothers and fathers long after they were gone. Today, tapestries from the centre are collected globally, and have appeared at auctions in Lebanon, the US, the UK and Sweden.

The precedents set by Ramses and Sophie in 1951, Kuwait in 1961 and the UAE since 1971 are examples for us all. Giving back to our communities, whether it is at the state, corporate or individual level, should not merely be seen as an act of charity and kindness, but rather as a long-term investment in less-developed parts of our communities that can potentially bring the place to life.