2 More Oya Mandeels

As our research for Oya continued, we got to Sonia Cattan after we heard that she has a collection of Oya. Unfortunately, the collection was stolen during the war on Maghdouche in 1986... Only 2 Oya mandeels survived. Here is Maryline wearing them for the photo.

Back to the Oya Story...

After our visit to Samia Saab and our research on Oya, could it still be possible to find Oya in Maghdouche? I haven't seen any black widow since years, not even any old woman wearing a Mandeel anymore! ...But whom to ask about Oya? ...for sure, Let us ask Jamal !!!

Jamal is our neighbour and guardian angel when we are in Beit el Founoun. She offers us juice or a cup of coffee whenever she has time or needs to have a little rest...

... and when we asked her about Oya, she just dissappeared for a while and came back with her mother's Oya (Zakieh) that she kept for years after her mother's death.

She proudly and full with emotions, showed us how to wear it on the head and the correct way for knobbing it.

It was not the best Oya we have seen, not after seeing the big collection of Samia Saab, but it was an Oya coming from old Maghdouche, and that was what made it special. Besides, the wood prints on the textile attracted our curiosityand attention to a possible traditional art technique that dissappeared with the time.

From my childhood, I remember Zakieh wearing her mandeel. It might be this one or another one. It does not matter. What matters now is that we are on the right track and that, by highlighting such thing, our satisfaction is enormous.

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...

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.