Global Understanding

Fabric of Society

The Chatham art collection receives a unique gift

Fabric of Society

APE Quilt gifted to Chatham

During her study abroad program in Egypt, Tiffany Tupper '11 became close friends with Chatham alumna Syada Alhamy Greiss '59. Chair of the Association for the Protection of the Environment (APE) in Cairo, Syada was also member of the Egyptian Parliament prior to its dissolution in early 2011. Tiffany networked with Syada during her study abroad program in Cairo, and the two become close colleagues and friends.

As Syada helped to expand Tiffany's knowledge of Egyptian society and politics, Tiffany helped to reconnect Syada with Chatham. And so, through her work with APE, Syada asked Tiffany to present a distinctive gift to Dr. Esther Barazzone and to Chatham.

APE works with the informal garbage collectors of Cairo known as the Zabbaleen (literally meaning "garbage collector" in Arabic). The organization helps this traditionally marginalized group find innovative ways to support the environment and aid themselves. APE develops environmentally-sound waste management and recycling techniques which help to build the human capacity of the Zabbaleen communities to recycle and re-use. Cairo is an immense city of 20 million inhabitants, yet the Zabbaleen garbage collectors are able to handle at least 40% of the city's waste. The Zabbaleen do not simply collect and dispose of garbage, rather they are able to recycle nearly 85 percent, a diversion rate much higher than most cities in Europe and North America.

Constructed from recycled materials by women trained in quilt construction by the APE, the scene on this quilt depicts the Zabbaleen working in the Mokattam garbage village. The quilt depicts all aspects of their collection style, including picking garbage up from Cairo homes, carting the waste to their village, recycling and reusing what they can, and feeding the remaining organic waste to livestock such as pigs.

"Meeting Syada Greiss in Cairo showed me that the values learned at Chatham can translate into huge successes," Tiffany explains. "As a mentor and friend, Syada made Egypt feel like a home away from home, and as a professional, displayed the great work of her organization, which became a large part of my tutorial research.

"A quilt was a fitting gift from Syada to Chatham, because just as the different aspects of Zabaleen life are displayed in the quilt, her story, and mine, all construct the greater narrative of what it means to be a Chatham woman."

The quilt will be displayed in the Jennie King Mellon Library.