Streets

Taken during our last stay in Maghdouche, here are photos of some streets in the old part of the village.

Made by "Dignity"

As you can see (by clicking on the first icon on the right column), we have started our little internet shop: made by "Dignity" and we have slowly started posting things for sale.

These things are made by people in Maghdouche.
and here is how the equation works:

We give the design and supply the yarn and material...
They put the handcraft and the effort to finish the job ...
You buy, so they get paid ...
we get the material cost back so we can finance a new work
... and we all keep our Dignity.

Do you feel to buy "Dignity"? send a mail to robertk at webmail dot no, indicating the item number and your method of payment, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Orange Blossoms Season

If you visit Maghdouche at this time of the year, you will be taken by the orange flowers perfum coming from the gardens and fields. Yes, it is the full season and people are picking their flowers and getting ready to subtract the perfumed water (Mazaher or Mayzaher) out of it.

Hundreds of people from around Lebanon rush to Maghdouche, these days, to buy either the flowers or the water, have a coffee with one or two flowers smashed in, visit "Saydet el Mantara" and head back to where they came from.

From generation to generation, the tradition is going on. Carlos' initiation to the orange blossoms


Hmmm, what a fragrance !


Ready for the alembic "karakeh"


Only in Maghdouche !

Samia Saab

Our research on the Lebanese hair cover "Mandeel" that my grand grand mother had, in the photo led us to Samia Saab, the DIVA of the Lebanese traditional textiles and what an interesting meeting !!!

Althought she was not in a good shape, Samia Saab received us with a big smile, offered us a Lebanese coffee and some traditional sweets "maakroon" and with a big heart, she showed us some of her textiles collection... Hours passed like seconds... we could stay longer, learn more but we had to leave.

We all agreed that this will not be the last time we see each other. A long way of collaboration will start between us, at least we hope...

The most important is that we know that the hair cover of my grand grand mother is called "Oya" originated in Turkey, and came to Lebanon with the long years of Ottoman occupation, and that the last woman that was working the Oya (on a shittle or Makkook) was from Baalbeck and that this Oya tradition died by her death.

A starting point that means a lot for us...

Wheel of Fortune

Since we decided to start Dignity project, we have been very active, actually a little bit too active, I have to admit... But for Maghdouche and its wonderful people, we are willing to do anything, almost anything... We took every opportunity we got, researching and learning, planning and training ...

På norsk
Siden vi bestemte oss for å starte Dignity prosjektet, har vi vært aktive, kanskje litt for aktive, Men for Maghdouche og de flotte menneskene som bor der, er vi villige til å gjøre så mye vi kan. Vi har benyttet enhvær mulighet vi har fått, undersøkelser, lært, planlagt og holdt kurs.......

During a "strikkekafe" (translated as knitting cafe) in our gallery, here in Norway, where we invite friends and yarn lovers to join for a coffee and a chat while doing handcraft, we tried the spinning wheel and that was ... what can I say?.... challanging but exciting... Yes!!! this is something for Dignity project !!! but can we afford to buy and transport wheels to Maghdouche ?

Under en strikkekafe i vårt galleri ( neste er 19 mars) hvor det kom venner og bekjente som liker garn, kaffe og en god prat........og mens de andre strikket prøvde vi å lære å spinne, og det var......ja hva kan vi si........utfordrende men spennende. Og dette hadde vært noe for Dignity prosjektet men hvordan kan vi få råd til å kjøpe en rokk og transportere den til Maghdouche?

Few days after, we got an old woman that we know, knocking on our gallery door. With her, she brought a gift to the project : a spinning wheel, made in Holland and almost unused !

Noen dager etter kom en eldre kvinne vi kjenner , hun hadde med seg en gave til prosjektet: En rokk, laget i Holland og nesten ubrukt.....................

For the record, the spinning wheel is a little more sofisticated instrument than the spindle, used to spin whool, cotton or silk. In Norway, to spin, using the wheel is a very old tradition and the original antique wheels cost a fortune.

Researching Maghdouche Costumes - På leting etter klær fra Maghdouche

One of the first things I do when I visit Lebanon, is to get back to the family photos that survived the 17 years of lebanese war and the fire that burned the family house in 1986 due to a heavy war that took place in Maghdouche and lasted for one month.

På norsk:

Noe av det første jeg gjør når jeg kommer til Libanon er å finne de få bildene som fantes etter 17 år med krig og nedbrent familiehus i 1986.

As a part of our Dignity project is to research the lebanese traditional costume that was used in Maghdouche, I rushed to see the photos and was eager to find a particular photo of my grand grand parents that I know it is still there...

Som en del av vårt Dignity prosjekt forsøker vi å finne tilbake til tradisjonelle klesdrakter som var brukt i Maghdouche. Jeg fant et bilde fra mine tippoldeforeldre............

I showed the photo to Trond Einar and he was fascinated by 2 things: the brocade shirt of my grand grand father and by the hair cover (mandeel) of my grand grand mother and all the small flowers surrounding it, and he said: "here is something that we need to research deeper !".

Jeg viste Trond Einar fotoet og han var fasinert over to ting: Min tippoldefars skjorte og tippoldemors hodetørkle (mandil) med de små blomstene.