The talk will look at the importance of tents as expressions of power from the Mamluks to the mid-19th century Ottoman Empire.

Thursday,

24 Sept. 2026

at 6:30 pm BST

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in person talk at Rewley Hous (Oxford) & Online (Zoom)

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THE TENT MAKERS OF CAIRO

A talk by

John and Joan Fisher

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The talk will start by looking at the importance of tents as expressions of power from the Mamluks to the mid-19th century Ottoman Empire ‒ at which time there was a revival of the craft in Egypt linked to the democratisation of tent use. It will then explore the designs produced over the last 150 years including more recently those made for tourists.

Joan Fisher co-curated the first exhibition of the tent makers art in UK, since when Joan and John have made a collection of antique, vintage and contemporary pieces some of which they will bring to illustrate their talk and for the audience to examine.

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Registration

Free for OATG Members - please book via Eventbrite.

Non-members are kindly asked to make a donation (£5 suggestion) via PapyPal https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/OxfordAsianTextileGr to join online. Without donating you will not be able to join the event. Please do get in touch if you have any issues.

Images:

Early 20th-century piece stitched for the tourist market

Late 19th-century exterior door curtain made for the ocal market

Description supplied by the event organiser.