“The link between past and present” - Block-print training with Studio Kunukku.

With Choose Love’s support, we have collaborated with Studio Kunukku to teach ten Syrian refugee women living in Beirut the craft of block-printing, helping to preserve this traditional under threat and providing employment for vulnerable women.

Studio Kunukku is a creative studio founded in 2020, with the aim of ‘utilizing block printing as a medium for social change and transformation’. Block printing is an ancient Syrian practice, central to the country’s visual culture and identity. Though today block printing is generally imagined to be a primarily Indian art form, Syrian block printing too goes back centuries. As is illustrated by comparative images of Indian and Syrian designs, the artistic traditions are distinct from one another, the loose floral motifs of Indian designs contrasted by the symmetrical and geometric nature of Syrian ones.

Studio Kunukku are doing incredible work to tell this story, compiling an archive of Syrian blocks both antique and contemporary in an effort to preserve this extraordinary craft which is increasingly under threat of vanishing altogether, due to the combined impacts of destroyed infrastructure, lost practitioners, and a shattered economy - all results of the ongoing conflict.

This loss cannot be understated. Block-printed textiles were at the heart of every home before the outbreak of war, this practice and aesthetic central to the Syrian sense of self. Syrians from our community told us how they treasure this cultural heritage not just for its artistic value, but also for the link it provides between past and present in the context of war:

“Syrian block-printing is important because handcrafts always represent the culture and traditions of our society. The craft of block-printing reveals our identity, it reveals the culture and activities of the society of our ancestors. It is the link between the past and the present.” - Mona, Oshana artisan.

“If we don’t preserve the craft, it is just going to die, like everything else in Syria. We have to start somewhere. This is a place to start”

Rouaa, Oshana artisan.

Together with the team at Studio Kunukku, we devised a three day workshop programme to teach a group of Syrian refugee women the practice of block printing, using blocks carved by Studio Kunukku’s talented in-house artist, Fadi AlMelhem. For designs, we looked to our own Syrian heritage for inspiration, searching out architectural motifs, antique textiles and traditional interior decoration to create a collection that reflects the rich cultural tapestry that made up the Syria of our youth.

From the moment these women gathered, eagerly awaiting the start of Studio Kunukku’s first workshop, it was clear to all that this collaboration was not only a meeting of minds, but of hearts too. The simple pleasure of putting paint to paper, the grand reveal of lifting the block to see what is left behind, ink-splashed cheeks and tea soaked laughter.

“This project, like all Makani projects, gives us happiness and hope. This project made us feel that we are still able to produce something beautiful and have hope despite the pain we went through” 

Khouloud, workshop participant.

 “I love that we are doing something very connected to our heritage. This is a great project to keep our crafts alive. I love that I am learning something creative that will open doors for us.”

Yara, workshop participant

This exciting collaboration has allowed us to contribute to the vital preservation of this rich and beautiful craft, keeping it alive for the next generation, many of whom have never had the chance to see their homeland. Block-printing provides a tangible link to this heritage, and is key to sustaining our Syrian cultural identity in exile. This project also allowed us to provide an opportunity for a group of Syrian refugee women to have fun, build friendships, learn a new skill, and work through trauma creatively, within a safe and supportive space.

Thank you to Studio Kunukku for keeping our cultural heritage alive, one block at a time. Thank you to the incredible workshop participants for your enthusiasm, creativity, and resilience. Syrian block-printing deserves to be seen and celebrated the world over, and we are working towards making this happen.