Alkinois is pleased to present Ba Atelier (Ba) collection of rugs/tapestries designed by Salma Barakat and handwoven in Egypt.

Ba Atelier (Ba), is a concept created by Egyptian Greek designer Salma Barakat. On her visit back home, Salma discovered that the handmade rug and tapestry market made by Egyptian artisans with rich traditional rug- making legacy was underrepresented. In 2022, Ba was born as an art and lifestyle brand with social business principles, in Amsterdam.

Collaboration:

Summer 2021, on a series of visits to the Egyptian countryside, Salma gained a clearer understanding on the nature of the Egyptian kilim rug-making process. This human intensive art form needed to be preserved and celebrated. Foreseeing a vision of applying contemporary design to traditional method, began her journey of collaborations and experimentation with local artisans, ultimately producing a series of handmade rugs with a lightweight nature that also double up as tapestries or “woven art”.

Design Inspiration:

The designs are based on Salma’s analog collages, using paper cutouts. As the process stems from flow, with uncalculated outcomes, a distilled version of the layered abstract organic shapes emerges. Some designs unintendedly embody Greek/Egyptian minimal design inferences, notably seen in Blue Dots, Bird and Pyramid.

Design Application:

Today, Ba rugs’ fluid and organic forms are juxtaposed against the tightly knit weaved process. With each circle, wavering lines and curves, the weavers are exposed to innovative migration from ageless motifs, and renewed interest by finding design implementation
solutions.

To maintain the artisans’ pride and excitement of translating design to a handmade production process, Salma limits designs to a maximum of 8 handmade rugs. To compliment the story, signed, limited edition prints on Fine Art paper.

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 weavers that work out of a wellrun 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 during the training to help support families. The workshop, although unassuming in structure, itself is a bright, open sun-lit space surrounded by fields.

Salma visits regularly throughout the year to foresee production and check on conditions. A safe communal environment, with banter and laughter against a meditative backdrop of circular harmony coming from loom pedals. Materials used are Egyptian cotton, renowned for its extra-long fibres and high levels of purity. In the future, Ba’s vision is to identify and work with suppliers to have all wool sourced locally and preserve a long standing but almost forgotten natural textile dye tradition from Egypt.

Ba:

The brand is inspired by the fluidity of the concept of the ba, as portrayed in Ancient Egyptian religion. The ba is the principle aspect of a soul and the notion of qualities of the divine. Represented as the person’s face on a bird’s body, for its ability to move and to take on shapes freely. Moreover, the brand is also the first two letters of the founder’s last name, Barakat. The visual expression is symbol با which is Arabic for ba.

The Designer:

Salma Barakat (b.1990), is a designer [London College of Communication] having lived in London and Amsterdam, with origins in Egypt and Greece. Currently basing her business, Ba, in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Alkinois:

Alkinois is an independent project space based in a former furniture factory in Athens, Greece.

The space includes a large exhibition area and a residency studio and accommodation. Since 2021, emerging international and Greek have exhibited.

Alkinois
Alkinois 6
11852 Athens (Petralona)