Tunisia – Traditional carpentry on the verge of disappearance

The traditional carpentry in Tunisia is on the verge of disappearance, as the number of carpenters in the field has decreased. Only a few of the elderly people have mastered this profession at a time when young people refuse to learn the manual craft, instead, they prefer the machines even if they don’t produce the same result as the carpenters say.

Location: Tunis – Tunisia

Language: Arabic

Voice: Natural

Duration: 00:05:02

Source: A24:

Restriction: A24 Clients

Dateline: 19-01-2022

Shot list:

• A24 logo
• Various shots from a carpentry workshop that makes old traditional furniture
• (SOUNDBITE) Jamal Al-Din Al-Wanissi – Carpenter:

“I learned this craft when I was 11 years old, I left school, so my father sent me to the dyers market in the Turbat of Bey in the old city and there I learned until 1976, then I came to Nahj Al-Manji Salim and learned the traditional Arab craft. Later, I came to my master, Urfi, that old man, who was born in 1938, he was a master in the Turk market since he was 17, he owns this shop, I started working with him in 1978, and learned the craft with him.”

• Various shots of the craftsman at work
• (SOUNDBITE) Jamal Al-Din Al-Wanissi – Carpenter:

“We make ancient Arab stuff, we learned most of this craft from the Turks, we also make Moroccan and Tunisian craft in which we work through scratching, or what we call “Takhshish”

• Various shots of several products in the workshop
• (SOUNDBITE) Jamal Al-Din Al-Wanissi – Carpenter:

“We used to work manually and make these holes one by one, but now they use modern techniques, you install the mold and it comes out in the shape, but some designs do not come out with digital technology, like the edges, they come out in a rounded shape”

• Various shots of the carpenter at work
• (SOUNDBITE) Jamal Al-Din Al-Wanissi – Carpenter:

“In the past, we used to use the tool of 300 and 500 millimeters earning two dinars only, but now if you give to the young people 30 dinars, they will not return, also they are not interested in learning the craft, but rather they want to earn money. This craft is on its way to disappear and slowly it will become the work of machines, when you go to any carpentry workshop, you will not find a young man learning, the only thing they are looking for is money”

• Various shots of products
• (SOUNDBITE) Jamal Al-Din Al-Wanissi – Carpenter:

“In any craft, if you don’t spend 14 or 15 years learning, you will not learn anything. Do people still learn a craft? In the past, we were about 7 and 8 young boys in a small workshop learning the craft from childhood, but now the first thing they will ask about as they enter the workshop is how much you will pay.”

• Various shots from the workshop
• (SOUNDBITE) Jamal Al-Din Al-Wanissi – Carpenter:

“The wood now is expensive, its price has risen by 200%, we used to buy some types with 55 dinars but now it costs 100 dinars. Sometimes we work on a project without any profit. Now before you accept any work, you go to the wood seller and check the prices every day, The wood you buy today at a price, after two or three days, you find it at a different price.”

• Various shots from the workshop
• A24 logo