RIWAQ’S GUIDELINES FOR WOODWORK RESTORATION AND MAINTENANCE OF HISTORIC BUILDINGS IN PALESTINE
RIWAQ’S GUIDELINES FOR WOODWORK RESTORATION AND MAINTENANCE OF HISTORIC BUILDINGS IN PALESTINE
The importance of this booklet lies in providing an overview of traditional woodworking practices and explaining how to properly handle, maintain, and conserve them. It also contributes to preserving and reviving traditional crafts that were once an integral part of a system based on the local productive economic environment, relying on local resources, skilled labor, and local manufacturing.
Crafts and industries, for the most part, depended on one another to provide some of the basic materials they required. For example, the metal hardware used for wooden doors and windows—such as handles, hinges, and other fittings—was locally produced by blacksmiths. Some of the tools used in these crafts were also locally manufactured. This created a local manufacturing and production system based on locally available resources and highly skilled and experienced craftsmen.
For this reason, it was important to invest in the capabilities of craftsmen in manufacturing and to pay close attention to the finest details, with the aim of developing the craft and increasing sales. This contrasts with the current system, in which the local market relies heavily on modern manufacturing technologies and places greater emphasis on consumption than on local manufacturing and production. This shift has been driven by the move toward rapid manufacturing and production systems based on assembling prefabricated components.
As a result, local products have been negatively affected and have declined in the face of imported products for several reasons, most notably lower prices and faster manufacturing and production in the era of globalization. The promotion of a consumer-oriented culture has also had a negative impact on the skills and precision of local craftsmen, contributing to the gradual disappearance and erosion of traditional local industries.
RIWAQ Staff
Since 1991, RIWAQ has recognized the challenging complexities of preserving Palestinian collective memory through projects that document and restore architectural heritage sites across the West Bank and Gaza. Harnessing the energy and skills of students, architects, archaeologists, and historians, RIWAQ embarked on the Registry of Historic Buildings, a thirteen year project (1994-2007) resulting in the publication of three volumes that include detailed histories, maps, and photos of approximately 420 villages in sixteen districts across the West Bank, Jerusalem, and Gaza.
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