Art Jameel launches Atelier Cairo to power entrepreneurship among Egyptian craft designers and artisans

• New platform empowers traditional craftspeople and designers through entrepreneurship opportunities
• Located in Zamalek, Cairo, the Atelier is Art Jameel’s second major contribution to preserving and developing craft heritage in Egypt
• Innovative model combines business training and access to finance with a co-working space and public programme of craft workshops

Art Jameel, an organisation that supports heritage, education and the arts, today launched Atelier Cairo Art Jameel, a new platform for Egyptian artisanship and design.

Bridging Cairo’s vibrant entrepreneurship ecosystem and the ancient, living traditions of Egyptian craft, Atelier Cairo Art Jameel aims to support the practice of traditional arts by empowering craft designers with the tools to start or expand their businesses.

Comprising a coworking space for craft entrepreneurs, a gallery and shop for craft design, and a venue for public workshops in the traditional arts, Atelier Cairo Art Jameel will also deliver a portfolio of entrepreneurship programmes tailored to the specific needs of craft designers, including a learning programme for starting or expanding a craft business; an access to finance programme; and an access to market programme.

Art Jameel has been working to preserve the traditional arts in Egypt since 2008, when it joined the Prince’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts and Egypt’s Cultural Development Fund to launch the Jameel House of Traditional Arts / Cairo with a two-year diploma programme in craft and design. Atelier Cairo Art Jameel complements that programme and is providing support to a number of alumni of the Jameel House of Traditional Arts / Cairo.

Atelier Cairo Art Jameel also builds on the work of Art Jameel’s sister organisation, Community Jameel, which operates livelihoods and microfinance programmes in Egypt through its Bab Rizq Jameel initiative. Community Jameel is also a founding partner of the MIT Enterprise Forum Arab Startup Competition, now in its 12th edition, and a pillar of the Arab region’s entrepreneurship ecosystem, especially in Egypt, from where numerous winners and finalists have been selected. The winner of the 2017 competition’s social entrepreneurship track was the Egyptian craft startup Kiliim.

Atelier Cairo Art Jameel is located at 13A Mohammed Maraashly, Zamalek, Cairo. To learn more about the Atelier Cairo Art Jameel and to apply to its programmes, go to artjameel.org/heritage/ateliercairo, or follow us for news at @ateliercairo on Instagram and at @ateliercairoartjameel on Facebook.