Thanks to Obelisque Magazine’s founder and publisher, Lamia Hussanein, for permission to post this article and the talented creative director, Mohamed Salah who designed the pages and worked for hours on the lay-out.
Photography and Text by Lesley Lababidi
Moeshen Art Gallery
Website: https://www.moeshen.com
All Photographs and text are under international copyright laws. No re-use without the written permission of Lesley Lababidi and Obelisque Magazine, 2023.
January to February on Egyptian farms and in gardens, larang or narang (bitter orange) are gathered to make sweet, pungent marmalade. This year is no difference. My seasonal gift of bitter oranges comes from the generosity of Bayt Hewison, Fayoum. This is my 12th season to receive such abundance!
The making of marmalade is a two-day process and my house smells of orange fragrances for many more days. Hours spent slicing and dicing the orange rind into slivers leave my fingers and hands tingling. The rind slivers rejoin the juice and after a few hours of boiling and simmering the liquid, I pour the hot marmalade into sterile glass jars. The jars go into a hot bath. As the the marmalade cools a suction between liquid and cap occurs and I satisfactory listen to the pop of each sealed jar. Waiting time is for 24-hours before I know if the marmalade sets. Will the pectin that I so carefully scraped from the rinds, soaked, boiled and sieved, be enough to make a jam-like consistency? (See process here.)
Below (posted on Instagram) is an interesting explanation of the etymology of the word ‘orange‘ from across the world.
Celebrating Marmalade
All Photographs and text are under international copyright laws. No re-use without the written permission of Lesley Lababidi 2023.
What do you get when ‘glamorous’ and ‘camping’ are combined? Glamping, of course!
Glamping is a style of camping with services of a luxury hotel…electricity, air-conditioning, hot water and a comfy bed in a tent. Only a three-hour drive from Cairo to Wadi el Rayan Protectorate in Fayoum, Mohamed Tahoun and his partners have launched the first glamp in Egypt.
Mohamed Tahoun, a software engineer, is a desert enthusiast. In 1999, he took his first trip into the Farafra depression to explore the White Desert and since then, he was hooked on desert travel. He explored the vast deserts of Egypt and continued to the UAE, Kuwait, and Oman. Tahoun says, “Real beauty is in the desert and camping gets inside your soul.” Then in 2016, Mohamed and his friends took a trip to the UAE in off-road 4×4 vehicles. They camped and posted on social media about their experience. Many friends expressed an interest to participate but they asked about two things: bathrooms and sleeping conditions. When he explained that both were done in nature, interest quickly declined.
Tahoun began to consider the concept of a camp for people to enjoy the desert but who do not want to compromise on comfort. Tahoun decided his purpose was to introduce the desert to the non-desert person. He explains, “I started investigating different styles of camps, basic or luxurious, in Morocco, Jordan, Kenya, and UAE and the possibility of a glamour camp in the Egyptian desert began to make sense.” Tourist experiences are abundant and varied in Egypt, spanning from the Red Sea to Upper Egypt to the Mediterranean yet 96% of Egypt is predominately desert. “So we decided to take advantage of promoting a comfortable touristic experience in the desert. We first developed another camp called Qusoor el Arab (Arab Palace). This camp was a basic experience with small huts, tents and shared bathrooms.” In 2017, Tahoun applied for the permit to develop a glamp in Wadi el Rayan Protectorate. It took three years to meet the strict regulations of an environmentally protected area. Remal el Rayan Glamp opened in March 2021 with a restaurant, three suites and four rooms.
A luxurious camp in Wadi el-Rayan Protectorate, Fayoum, to introduce the desert to the non-desert person. Glamping is a style of camping with services of a luxury hotel…electricity, air-conditioning, hot water and a comfy bed in a tent.
The Glamp offers infrastructure for people to enjoy the desert in luxury: air-conditioned rooms, spacious bathrooms, private Jacuzzi and campfires, hot and cold running water, refrigerator and deluxe bed and linens; each room with a private terrace. The management can organize roundtrip transportation from home to Glamp as well as arrange safaris, excursions, horseback riding, and sand surfing. The restaurant serves a full range of specialties including the Bedouin mandi, a traditional dish consisting of meat, chicken or duck, baked underground.
Above: day trip to explore Wadi el Rayan Protectorate, waterfalls and dunes, Valley of the Whales (Wadi el Hitan) , Magic Lake. Not to be missed are the pottery makers at Tunis Village (see short video at the end of this article). Visit Madinet Madi, Greaco-Roman town of Karan’s and Museum of Kom Oshim, Hawara Pyramid.
Tahoun is excited about touristic possibilities in Fayoum. He cooperates with the local government, the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Tourism to promote Fayoum’s history, nature sites, monuments, lodges, pottery workshops and desert safari. Using social media as a tool, he hopes to attract international tourism to Fayoum not only for day trips but also as a destination to stay several nights.
Location: Fayoum Governorate Desert, Wadi el Rayan Protectorate
Contact for more information and reservations
Instagram : @remalelrayanglamp
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100067737975577
Read more about Fayoum:
All Photographs and text are under international copyright laws. No re-use without the written permission of Lesley Lababidi 2023.
Dar Dahab My Egyptian Home
Driving north from Sharm el-Sheikh airport, the road winds through an hour of copper-colored rugged, desolate mountains. Rounding the last curve, a hot asphalt gives way to the cool breeze rolling off the blue waters of the Gulf of Aqaba. It is here, in this quiet Bedouin town that Swiss-Egyptian, Nahed Ismail, founded Dar Dahab, My Egyptian Home, in 2015. “The idea to return to Egypt after my retirement was deeply compelling,” explained Ismail. “My father, an engineer, moved us to Switzerland when I was a little girl but we always spent our summers in Egypt and this is how I kept my relationship with the country.” In 2011, Ismail retired and returned to Egypt. She wanted to live simply in authentic surroundings. Dahab made an immediate impression. She bought a piece of land to build a small home but then decided that an income generating project would be more practical, as long as it was authentically Egyptian.
Above: Dar Dahab is a guesthouse of three floors, 9-full service apartments. A rooftop space an accommodate group gatherings. Delicious Egyptian cuisine is served upon request oreach apartment has a full kitchen for the guest convenience. The friendly staff can arrange all outdoor activities.
To achieve this goal, Ismail hired Swiss architect Anthony Julen who had studied Egyptian local building materials and was keen to design a building that used natural and sustainable materials to incorporate the craftsmanship of Egyptian builders and artisans. The plot of land Ismail chose skirted the shores of the turquoise waters. The new edifice would bask in a constant refreshing breeze and sounds of the surf.
Open courtyard reflects traditional architecture of North Africa and the Levant with fountains and greenery; the courtyard invites conversation, a glass of sweet black tea or Turkish coffee. The outer wall, open to the sea, is influenced by mashrabiya, an architectural element traditionally used in the Islamic world as a wind catcher.
The courtyard, bedrooms, and dining room are furnished with sturdy palm frond chairs and tables. Palm trees are grown in all parts of Egypt. The person who makes chairs, tables and other furniture from palm fronds is known as an artist, fannan. The legs of chairs and tables are cut from the trunk of the palm frond. The seat and back of the chair are made with slender palm branches in lattice work design.
During previous visits to Egypt, the owner and the architect found inspiration while visiting Siwa Oasis. Studying local building materials in Siwa, they took the decision that the outer walls of the Dahab guesthouse would be built of salt bricks allowing gold and yellow light to stream through the luminous bricks. Interior walls were plastered with a mud/salt/sand mix, a Siwa building technique applied by hand. Ismail’s insistence on an open courtyard reflects traditional architecture of North Africa and the Levant and for special effect, the outer wall is a mashrabiya (carved latticework) design, which allows air and light to play throughout the day within the courtyard. For the furnishings a minimalist, sturdy and comfortable approach was taken; a craftsman from Monsoura was selected to construct palm frond furniture. From the village of Tunis in the Fayoum Oasis, ceramic plates and bowls add charm in the guest rooms and on dining tables.
Salt bricks are produced in the Eastern mines of Siwa Oasis. The white salt is called ‘karshif’, composed of salt crystals that contain impurities of sand giving it a brownish color. Salt bricks exude negative ions, which are believed to produce biochemical reactions that enhances serotonin levels, relieve stress and promote energy.
In Arabic, dar means ‘house or home’. Nahed Ismail prides herself in welcoming guests to Dar Dahab, home away from home. She says, “Welcoming people back…welcoming them home, means, to me, that people return to their Egyptian family, their Egyptian home.” She continues, “Every Egyptian family has a suitcase of old photographs and my daughters said, ‘why don’t we hang these photographs throughout the guesthouse?’ They believed it is important to share our family history with guests.”
Ceramic bowl from Tunis Village in the Fayoum Oasis, sits atop the table made from palm fronds. The outer wall constructed of salt brick architecture brought in from the Siwa Oasis allows the natural light to cast various shades of gold across rooms throughout the day.
Tip: Fayoum Pottery, Ceramic Arts and Crafts in an Egyptian Oasis by R. Neil Hewison, AUC Press.
All rooms are equipped with a full kitchen so guests can cook if they prefer not to eat out. Even though Ismail prefers the guest house to remain on a small-scale, there is more and more demand. Ismail smiles, “We are successful but it is a challenge to stay small. I want the guesthouse to remain homelike and familiar. I don’t want ten people working with me.” She continues, “We are starting to be known as a well-being retreat. Perhaps the dar concept enhances well-being. Groups take over the entire building. We have space for yoga, gatherings, and meals together, just like a big family.” Ismail explains that in Dahab cats adopt their owners, not the other way around. Every establishment has a cat that walks in and makes itself at home.
Address: Dar Dahab Street, Assalah, Dahab 46629 – South Sinaï
WhatsApp: +20106 789 4913
Website: https://dardahab.com; Email: info@dardahab.com
Instagram: @dardahab.official; Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dar.dahab/
**All rights reserved by Lesley Lababidi. To copy or re-produce photography and/or writings, written permission from Lesley Lababidi is required.
Only Breath by Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi
English version by Coleman Barks
Original Language Persian/Farsi & Turkish
Not Christian or Jew or Muslim, not Hindu
Buddhist, sufi, or zen. Not any religion
or cultural system. I am not from the East
or the West, not out of the ocean or up
from the ground, not natural or ethereal, not
composed of elements at all. I do not exist,
am not an entity in this world or in the next,
did not descend from Adam and Eve or any
origin story. My place is placeless, a trace
of the traceless. Neither body or soul.
I belong to the beloved, have seen the two
worlds as one and that one call to and know,
first, last, outer, inner, only that
breath breathing human being.
| — from The Essential Rumi, Translated by Coleman Barks |
days
hours minutes seconds
until
THE LOST LEGACY OF BIDA BIKINI
My five-year-old granddaughter’s school assignment was to write about three famous black women. In recognition of Black History Month, she chose three women whom she admires: Misty Copeland, Peju Alatise, and Maya Angelou.
Peju Alatise is currently exhibiting at Frieze Sculpture 2022, Regents Park, London. The outdoor art gallery merges art with nature. The New York Times says, “‘Sim and the Yellow Glass Birds’ by the Nigerian writer/artist uses a series of four squares to depict the life of a 9 year old domestic servant in Lagos and how, in her dreams, she can fly.”
BBC interview at Frieze Sculpture 2022
Read more about Peju Alatise: Celebrating the New Power House and Tearing at the Fabric
DOCUMENTARY, PANEL DISCUSSION AND GLASS EXHIBITION
NOVEMBER 8TH, 2022, 8PM TO 10PM, AUC DOWNTOWN CAMPUS: ORIENTAL HALL. FREE AND ALL ARE WELCOME
THE EVENING WILL FEATURE THE SCREENING OF THE RENOWNED DOCUMENTARY;
THE LOST LEGACY OF BIDA BIKINI
PANEL PARTICIPANTS INCLUDE GLASS ARCHAEOLOGISTS:
Abidemi Babatunde Babalola, PhD-Trained in anthropological archaeology at University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria and Rice University, Houston Texas USA, Dr. Babalola’s interests include early pyro-technologies, complex societies, craft specialization, connectivity, Atlantic influence, and heritage studies. He is the director of the “Archaeology of Glass” project in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. His research has contributed to understanding the dynamics of innovation, science, and technology in pre-colonial Sub-Saharan African societies with emphasis on the invention of indigenous glass technology in Southwest Nigeria in the early second millennium AD.
Joëlle Rolland PhD-in Archaeology of the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and a post-doctoral researcher at UMR 8215 Trajectoires, CNRS. She is a specialist in Iron Age glassmaking and carried out analytical studies to understand the origin of the raw glass used by Iron Age societies in Europe, its manufacturing technics and the processes involved in turning glass into beads and bracelets.
GLASS EXHIBITION OF BIKINI GLASS, BEADS AND BRACELETS FROM RECYCLED GLASS OF THE MASAGA GLASSMAKERS
A UN INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF GLASS 2022 EVENT
WATCH THIS SPACE….MORE TO COME!
Happy double anniversary on your 70th year birthday & 19th year ascending on the throne as Etsu Nupe. May the endowed mercies and blessings of Allah continue to reside in your company; may Allah grant you long life with good health, wealth and wisdom. Verily, your being celebrated on today’s dual occasions is an event in your honour for patriotism, uncompromised and purposeful leadership you have been selflessly offering for the people. Congratulations, Sir! Ba’gadozhi
Queen Elizabeth II by Ben Enwonwu (1957), Nigeria
In 1957, Nigeria was three years away from independence from England. It was the time when Queen Elizabeth’s reign coincided with a shrinking of the British empire and the emergence of a postcolonial age. Ben Enwonwu (1917-1994) arguably the most known 20th century African artist, was commissioned by the Queen in 1956 during her visit to Nigeria to sculpt a bronze statue of herself. The sculpture was unveiled on 5 November 1959 in Lagos at the start of the fifth session of the Nigerian House of Representatives in Lagos.
Fifty-one years later, on November 7, 2018, the then Prince Charles (now King Charles III) presided over an event in Lagos where Ben Enwonwu’s sculpture was again allowed to be in public view. For all these years after Independence the statue had been forgotten until Neil Coventry found it in a room used by the cleaners at the National Museum!
nomad4now 