Egyptian Folk Arts

Egyptian folk arts represent the relationship between the innovating person -whether being a roving or a stayed artist or craftsman- and the prevalent folk expression or taste.

Folk arts is highly important to understand folk legacy and folk culture as they express the spirit of folk group and their folk taste and aesthetic values as the artist person would be the most representing one of group values being the most one involved in depth in folk legacy.

Egyptian civilization has sought all over its eras to preserve its identity and to take care of everything that distinguishes its culture besides it has supported different kinds of innovation.

It was the aesthetic value that ancient Egyptian acquired -through various arts practice- after the beneficial value.

Ancient Egyptian belief had vivid evidence in all phases of arts that passed upon, & the most important was the belief in resurrection and then eternal life which was then an important pivot in all artistic works that lived forever as found in tombs and temples beside the great pyramids and fine and micro arts as well.

Egyptian artist mastered through different experiences the tools and materials used in artistic works like limestones beside knowing metals and how to form and shape.

Then Copts to inherit their ancestors, and Coptic Art is characterized by its authenticity due to its old roots for which its distinguishable character with its strong character and presence has made it alive till now, and even its traditions have stayed in local societies which are normally subjected to change and renewal, and that shows an evidence of its great ability to innovate forms to fit current changes, and to enjoy the taste of Egyptian Coptic art through eras needs some knowledge about the aesthetics of this type of art and its history.

 Then came Islamic Art characterized as being more spreading than other arts and its styles differ according to the style and art of the different peoples of the Islamic nation, and from time to time Islamic art appears to us with different color of artistic innovation and proficiency.

Folk Arts Definition and Classification

Dr. M. Elgohary has defined Folk Arts as the basic essential merits of an artistic product which could be considered as a folk art by being manufactured inside a house for a private usage and by being understood from the significance of its forms in the light of legacy..

Dr. Elgohary has classified folk arts and material culture into different classes: first the music which includes music not only accompanying songs for births, work, flirting, weddings, pilgrimages, but also accompanying dances, chants, eulogies, invocation with different types of musical instruments like wind instruments and string instruments, then second comes folk dances, plays and games including special occasions dances and  games and plays whether as songs or contest or entertainment, and also folk shaping arts is included in this classification of manual works on different materials like textiles, wood, iron, pottery, ceramics, copper and glass.

The last section is the tangible culture elements which includes agricultural works tools and house tools and equipment and folk manufacturing and crafts.

Whereas Dr. Salah Elrawi has defined folk arts as the whole interconnected from human activities and the products of folk group argument with their class, physical & meta-physical reality all in the aim of subduing the real world to their control and of fulfilling their human existence with taking the benefits of this real world.

From this definition we can see that from every physical and spiritual activity comes from the folk group is considered as a type of culture.

The folk culture is pided into values genres like imaginations & beliefs, experiences & knowledge, customs & traditions, arts including sayings, musical, motional, fine, dramatic, and then comes material forming in which we are concerned about arts

Folk Arts & Traditional Crafts Simplification for Children

I have a special & unique experience of its type in arts & traditional crafts documentation which is making documentation directly from the mouths of skilled craftsmen, after than I have started to simplify it to children.

My experience in writing to child has been in "Wanderer's Stories" in which I choose simple words & structures in sentences of a certain type in order to make a drama to the story & to show the feelings in it, & my linguistic structures have reflected the space-time situations to the scenario as children like motions & movements more than descriptive style. Therefore, I have merged the stories of skilled craftsmen I have met during my field collection of traditional crafts.

The ultimate goal from folk arts & traditional crafts simplification for children is the idea of visual culture and image saving inside each one of us like saving a state of photography in the countryside or in a local area! this works as an essential factor in visual culture accumulation for children. 

That should be developed to the child and to be trained to interact visually; this education for the child would make a human of ethics & artistic taste; it would bring up artistic beauties inside the child to establish a visual culture which would be developed by sightseeing, outdoor trips and training in house on drawing and shaping by mud and clay.

And now someone may ask me how a child would grasp topics like folklore? And I would answer then that child's understanding for heritage topics is basically achieved by the way this heritage is monitored to the child in a way that suits child's time & age.

Egyptian lane has made this role as it is an important source to convey & understand the heritage for the child since infancy through folk games like wooden-buoy, trick-track, colorful marble toys, "electricity - kahraba", seven-bricks, running-contests, "seega" & "kobba", Ramadan canon & so on.

There are also cultural media that integrate to that role like mass media such as radio, television & newspapers, plus worshipping institutions, schools, family, besides child books like information literature and games & hobbies books and different types of stories like fictional, humorous, historical, scientific, religious, heroic, in addition to religious & patriotic national chants & anthems, besides Children Cinema which we used to watch on Egyptian TV which made an important role in child culture & literature in various ways of comedy, tragedy & action.

Closure

Egyptian folk arts have deep roots in folk heritage & folk group conscience as these arts have expressed the prolific & deep folk culture, this heritage got from our Egyptian ancestors all over long history passing by Coptic & Islamic arts, & it has been the container of all such imaginations, beliefs, experiences, knowledge, customs, traditions, arts including verbal, musical, motional, fine, & dramatic, then material formation, and then comes the documentation of these folk arts which is considered as patriotic duty for each one concerned & loving to Egyptian folk arts.

Finally, I would like to say that I have built my experience to simplify folk arts for children as if we want really our society to get developed & be able to face its cultural needs, so authentic folk arts simplification for children should be a big duty.