At 72, Ahmed Ali Ghoneim is one of Cairo's last fannous artists. His dimly-lit, dusty workshop, stacked to the ceiling with metal scrap, has been in the heart of Islamic Cairo for half a century. The adjacent shop spills a collection of lanterns of all shapes and sizes well onto the pavement.
Ghoneim strives to preserve a national tradition along with the family know-how which has been passed from generation to generation. "When my father died - he was 100 and I was 10 - I inherited his skills," said Ghoneim as he hammered a malleable sheet of metal wedged against two short wooden planks.
"My eight brothers and sisters worked with me. Now my 11 children are giving me a hand when they get back from school or work. The girls paint the glass and the boys assemble the pieces," he explained.
The Ramadan lanterns were brought to Egypt by the Fatimids, who came from Tunisia in the tenth century and founded Cairo. Often made out of recycled glass and metal, they used to carry a candle and light the porches of the capital's aristocratic houses during the long Ramadan nights.
The candle has now been replaced by a light bulb and the fannous has become a lucrative industry which opened the door to competition from abroad.
"We begin manufacturing the fawanees [plural of fannous ] some three months before the start of Ramadan, when orders start coming in. Then the stock gradually sells out throughout the holy month," says the septuagenarian, who sells mousetraps during the rest of the year.
He admits that business has become tough since China and other Asian countries with a cheap labor force started mass-producing lanterns that now account for the vast majority of the Egyptian market.
The original spirit of the fannous may be lost on these faraway manufacturers but new types of flashing or musical lanterns are proving popular with part of the population.
He knows he is fighting an unequal battle. "Chinese lanterns are imported in huge quantities and their distribution networks are very effective."
Ghoneim's only clients are tourists - "real connoisseurs and very respectful of traditions," he says.
"My largest orders come from neighboring Arab countries, Europe and even the United States," he says. "Without these orders, I would be selling only a few dozen fawanees a year."
© 2004 Agence France-Presse
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