Tanis catalogue

TANIS ORIGINAL TEXTILE DESIGNS

PHOTO: MAY HASSANEIN

ESTABLISHED 1987

Tucked away in an unlikely corner of Cairo is a workshop of exceptional craftsmen, dedicated to producing unique TANIS designs on Egyptian cotton, linen and toile.

Founded in 1987, TANIS has pioneered a remarkable revival of traditional and long-forgotten designs.

Newly graduated and full of idealism the TANIS team felt an enormous responsibility towards the traditional textile industry in Egypt which had experienced years of stagnation.

After prolonged debate this group of cultured and educated Egyptian artists and craftsmen decided that revival was only possible if they explored and then revived a portion of their lost heritage.

Their project would marry their artistic aspirations with their career ambitions.

Theirs was to be a process of re-discovery.

To this day this spirit of breathing new life into old designs remains at the heart of the TANIS mission.

Many of the team had studied art, practised drawing and draughtsmanship, but they knew that the strongest influences in their culture were to be found on the decoration of tombs, buildings, fabrics and furniture. These traditional forms of expression would be the bedrock of their work. In other words their inspiration would come, not from contemporary art, but from the past.

The source of their inspiration is totally Egyptian and astonishingly varied.

Using age-old techniques, the fabric lengths are first stretched over very long wooden tables and then layers of colour are painstakingly applied by hand, in fact by two pairs of hands at a time, working always in unison.

The process is both a science and an art, as the chemistry of mixing dyes requires both meticulous accuracy and the flair of the visual artist.

The group delved into the records of the past – books, manuscripts and photographs of medieval buildings. They researched patterns that had appeared on carpets, on fabrics and in the decoration of buildings over the centuries.

They became ‘visual students’ of history. Every encounter with their forbears was a humbling one. What could they produce that would be worthy of such a heritage? Their answer was the production of re-editions that would appeal to contemporary taste while respecting the integrity of tradition.

All the images they use have been researched, re-edited and reproduced to form a collection of textiles that represents a portfolio of Egypt’s rich cultural heritage. TANIS is proud of its fabric library, unique in the world, with hundreds of designs in its archives.

The attention to detail and quality control during the production process is a pleasure to witness in a city like Cairo.

The TANIS mission is to innovate constantly through reinterpretation of their own Egyptian heritage.

Clients order anything from one metre to a thousand metres and the collaborative process is such fun that many clients become firm friends of TANIS at the same time.

The future is looking very bright for this unique Egyptian textile brand, which is a gentle form of justice perhaps for those townspeople of ancient Tanis, whose ethos and excellence is alive and well in the 21st century. Ω

The brand name itself harks back to Classical Antiquity when the townspeople of Tanis in the Delta, refused to reveal to the conquering king the secret of their exquisite gold-woven textiles. The angry ruler took appalling revenge by burning the town and its workshops to the ground, and thus the secret of Tanis’ shimmering cloth was lost for ever.

TANIS has two shops, with a third one opening in 2010 in the new Designopolis on the Cairo-Alexandria Desert Road.

Special orders are exported to the Gulf, to Europe and indeed all over the world.

First Mall, 35 Giza Street, Cairo, EGYPT Tel: (+202) 3573 0609 Mob: (+2) 0122 865 0189 32 Mohamed Anis, Zamalek - Tel: (+202) 2737 2555 DESIGNOPOLIS, Nk -175 Km. 38, Cairo - Alex Desert Road, Egypt.

Tel. (+202) 3857 2418 - Mob: (+2)011 2425 1700 www.tanisinteriors.com Tanis_first@yahoo.com Tanis_design@yahoo.com

CUSTOM MADE FABRICS

ESTABLISHED 1987 ESTABLISHED 1987

DESIGN RENAISSANCE Custom-made Mamluk carpets.

First Mall, 35 Giza Street, Cairo, EGYPT Tel: (+202) 3573 0609 Mob: (+2) 0122 865 0189 32 Mohamed Anis, Zamalek - Tel: (+202) 2737 2555 DESIGNOPOLIS, Nk -175 Km. 38, Cairo - Alex Desert Road, Egypt.

Tel. (+202) 3857 2418 - Mob: (+2)011 2425 1700 www.tanisinteriors.com Tanis_first@yahoo.com Tanis_design@yahoo.com

OBELISQUE

WOVEN COPTIC TEXTILES First Mall, 35 Giza Street, Cairo, EGYPT Tel: (+202) 3573 0609 Mob: (+2) 0122 865 0189 Mohamed Anis, Zamalek - Tel: (+202) 2737 2555 32 .DESIGNOPOLIS, Nk -175 Km. 38, Cairo - Alex Desert Road, Egypt Tel. (+202) 3857 2418 - Mob: (+2)011 2425 1700 www.tanisinteriors.com Tanis_first@yahoo.com Tanis_design@yahoo.com

70

First Mall, 35 Giza Street, Cairo, EGYPT Tel: (+202) 3573 0609 Mob: (+2) 0122 865 0189 Mohamed Anis, Zamalek - Tel: (+202) 2737 2555 32 .DESIGNOPOLIS, Nk -175 Km. 38, Cairo - Alex Desert Road, Egypt Tel. (+202) 3857 2418 - Mob: (+2)011 2425 1700 www.tanisinteriors.com Tanis_first@yahoo.com Tanis_design@yahoo.com

BESPOKE FABRICS

ESTABLISHED 1987

CUSTOM MADE FABRIC

TANIS makers of the finest Egyptt tians cottons and linens. Pioneers in reviving handt printed decorative designs that are reteditions from Egypt’s classical heritage.

First Mall, 35 Giza Street, GIZA, Cairo.

Tel: 5730609 32 Mohamed Anis, Zamalek Tel: 7372555 Mob: 012 8650189 info@tanis-fabrics.com info@elpatio-interiors.com

OBELISQUE

OBELISQUE

www.tanis-fabrics.com

First Mall, 35 Giza Street, Cairo, EGYPT Tel: (+202) 3573 0609 Mob: (+2) 0122 865 0189

32 Mohamed Anis, Zamalek - Tel: (+202) 2737 2555 DESIGNOPOLIS, Nk -175 Km. 38, Cairo - Alex Desert Road, Egypt.

Tel. (+202) 3857 2418 - Mob: (+2)011 2425 1700 www.tanisinteriors.com Tanis_first@yahoo.com Tanis_design@yahoo.com

First Mall, 35 Giza Street, Cairo, EGYPT Tel: (+202) 3573 0609 Mob: (+2) 0122 865 0189 32 Mohamed Anis, Zamalek - Tel: (+202) 2737 2555 DESIGNOPOLIS, Nk -175 Km. 38, Cairo - Alex Desert Road, Egypt.

Tel. (+202) 3857 2418 - Mob: (+2)011 2425 1700 www.tanisinteriors.com Tanis_first@yahoo.com Tanis_design@yahoo.com