STORY
CONCEPT
Ba is a design concept by Salma Barakat an Egyptian Greek designer. On her travels, Salma discovered that the handmade rug market by Egyptian artisans with a traditional kilim legacy was underrepresented worldwide. Ba was born in 2022 as an art and lifestyle brand with social business principles.
COLLABORATION
Summer 2021, on a series of visits to the Egyptian countryside, Ba’s vision of applying contemporary design to the traditional method of the Egyptian kilim rug-making process was brought to life. Experimentation with local artisans inspired a collection of prototypes with a lightweight nature that also double up as flat weave wall hangings, tapestries, or “woven art”. Since then, limited editions per chosen rug design have been presented in Ba’s online store, exhibitions, and venues in Amsterdam, Athens, and Cairo.
DESIGN
The rug designs are based on the founder’s passion for analog collage making. As the process stems from flow, with uncalculated outcomes, a distilled version of the layered abstract organic shapes emerges. Some compositions unintendedly embody Greek and Egyptian minimal design inferences, notably seen in Blue Dots, Bird and Pyramid.
ARTISANS TEST WALL HANGING (PYRAMID IN COTTON)
Today, Ba rugs’ fluid forms are juxtaposed against the tightly knit woven process. With each circle and wavering line, the artisans are challenged to innovate from ageless motifs, and find renewed interest in implementing techniques.
LIMITED EDITION
Ba limits each design to a maximum of 8 handmade rugs depending on the collection.
Select, custom-framed original collages are made available to highlight the transition from the artwork to the final rug piece. Limited edition art prints on Hahnemühle Fine Art paper are numbered and signed by the artist
PLACE
Ba kilims are predominately made in Atfeeh - a rural village 100km south of Cairo. With a desire to build empowerment among underprivileged women, Salma collaborates closely with the weavers that work out of a well-run, purpose-built workshop operated by a local NGO charity.
The charity trains women in need with artisanal skills and while traditional craft is preserved, regular salaries are provided to help support families. The workshop, although unassuming in structure, is a bright, open, sun-lit space surrounded by fields.
Salma visits regularly throughout the year to oversee production and check on conditions. A safe communal environment, with banter and laughter against a meditative backdrop of circular harmony coming from loom pedals.
CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNTIES
The heavier weight cotton pieces, marked double-cotton (Infinity, Nile and Bird), are produced by an independent initiative in Fowwa, a region in Egypt steeped in kilim rug weaving history. The aim is to sustain Fowwa’s artisanal capacity as unfortunately, the craft is diminishing while young locals seek quicker-paid jobs. The number of looms is also not being replaced as are considered expensive to buy and maintain. Ba collaborates with this initiative, with the intention to open global markets and maintain a flow of income to the makers.
Ba rugs and tapestries are made in either wool or Egyptian cotton, renown for its extra-long fibres and high levels of purity. The wool is currently sourced from New Zealand. In the future, Ba’s vision is to identify and work with suppliers to have all materials sourced locally and preserve a long standing but almost forgotten natural textile dye tradition from Egypt.
ARTISAN ON PEDDLE LOOM
(EYES COTTON)
THE NOTION OF bꜣ 𓅽
The brand is inspired by the fluidity of the concept of the bꜣ 𓅽 (pronounced ba) as portrayed in Ancient Egyptian religion. The ba is the principle aspect of a soul and the notion of qualities of the divine¹. Represented as the person’s face on a bird’s body, for its ability to travel and to take on shapes freely². Moreover, the brand is also the first two letters of the founder’s last name, Salma Barakat. The visual expression is symbol با which is Arabic for ba.
¹ Janák,2014, Saddle-billed Stork (ba-bird). UEE. p. 1 and 5
² J. Vandier, La religion égyptienne (2nd edition; Paris, 1949), p. 131
TEMPLE OF GODDESS HATHOR AT DENDERA
ANCIENT EGYPTIAN MURAL AT THEBES
ABOUT THE DESIGNER
Salma Barakat is a Graphic designer [London College of Communication, UAL] having lived in London and Amsterdam, with origins in Egypt and Greece. Ba was founded in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and is now based in Athens.
In the press:
Ba solo exhibition (Athens June 2023) -Artviews.gr - Ba Atelier at Alkinois: A selection of handmade rugs and tapestry kilims designed by Salma Barakat at Alkinois Art space