“Human freedom never has as much meaning and value as when it allows the creative power of the child to come into action. All children are endowed with a creative power which includes an astonishing variety of potentialities. This power is necessary for the child to build up his own existence.”
— Ramses Wissa Wassef
In our House Series, we spoke with Suzanne Wissa Wassef about her father Ramses’ vision behind art as a creative outlet and the idea that each human has an artist residing within them.
Wissa Wassef is an art center in the Harrania Village in Southern Cairo, Egypt. Created in 1952 by Ramses Wissa Wassef for the children of the village to let out their thoughts and ideas through tapestry making and cotton weaving.
Ramses’s entire career was purely devoted to art, which he considered to be the best means of human communication.
He was dedicated to releasing the creativity instilled within young Egyptian villagers; freed from the limitations of a formal education, with his own teaching methods. Proving that with heartfelt ideas and genuine creativity, anything is possible.
Suzanne explained to us her father’s 3 rules that still stand to this day.
Rule #1: The children are not shown any kind of artwork.
The basis of this is that he did not want a child’s mind to be affected by any outside perspective. All the art and tapestry designs must come purely from the child’s imagination and the life that surrounds them.
Rule #2: Never criticize a child’s art form.
A golden rule is that we must always leave freedom for children to recognize their own language. Each child has an artist that lives within, and it’s up to them to discover who they are.
Rule #3: None of the artwork should come from anything predesigned.
Every tapestry and every weaving comes from the artist’s imagination. Sitting in front of their station, each artist creates different shapes and forms, making up a final image.
Wissa Wassef is a space where art comes to life, by people who have grown to become masters of their craft.
