Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
Damascus, SANA- Despite the many difficulties that handicraft owners are facing in selling their products, and the abstention of many young men to learn traditional trades in recent times, Artizana project continues to collect traditional crafts engraved with Syrian fingertips in order to preserve them as a cultural heritage in an attractive and modern image that conveys Syrian creativity to the world.
Artizan project, which depends on operating small craft workshops to manufacture distinctive products that carry the national heritage and attracts the local and foreign buyers, also includes all kinds of handicrafts, copper, textiles and others, with the aim of supporting the craft industries and protecting them from extinction as a local economic value and products present in the global markets, according to a statement by the founder of the project, Hala Kanayia to SANA reporter.
The project also includes, according to Kanayia, design and manufacture of distinctive oriental and handcrafted presents, like wooden boxes inlaid with seashell or mosaic, brocade cloth, ceramics and pottery, as well as the art of digging and drawing on wood, making handmade glass products, drawing on them, copper engravings and Qaishani products. 
On the other hand, the project has provided many job opportunities for craftsmen and talented people who stopped working during the years of the war on Syria, especially women and people with special needs who are able to work and produce from their homes where the staff of the institution communicates with them to take their products and make some amendments to them and sell them or present them as gifts on occasions.
The project doesn’t stop at just providing support and follow-up to the craftsmen, but rather seeks, according to Kanayia, to create a market for selling products through an electronic platform that is considered a link between the craftsmen and the target markets to reach the widest possible segment of those interested in Syrian heritage, indicating the concern for the presence of Artizana products in all hotels and places frequented by foreigners.
Thanks to the great efforts, follow-up and management among the craft workshops included in the project, it was able to achieve many local and international prizes, the most important of which is the award of (Surajkund Mela) exhibition in India.
Nisreen Othman/ Mazen Eyon
