Qena’s Women Weave a Living as Ancient Farka Craft Faces Modernity

Women in Egypt’s Qena governorate are keeping traditional handicrafts alive while relying on them as a source of income. Their work connects everyday livelihoods with a heritage that remains central to the governorate’s identity.

Among Qena’s most distinctive crafts is farka weaving, a historic textile tradition associated with Pharaonic heritage. It stands out among the handmade industries for which the governorate is known.

For the women who practise these crafts, preserving tradition is also a way of earning a living. Their handiwork gives the governorate’s cultural heritage a continuing role in its economic life.

Yet farka faces the challenge of modernity. Its place in Qena’s craft tradition highlights the tension between safeguarding an inherited skill and sustaining it as a source of income in a changing world.