UNESCO listing brings new shine to North African metal art

Mohamed Amine Htiouich began honing his metal engraving skills as a teenager. Now the 37-year-old Tunisian is training the next generation in the ancient art, recently recognized by UNESCO.

Htiouich first worked on copper, then silver and finally gold at the family's workshop in the old medina of Tunis.

Two decades later, he offers free apprenticeships to young enthusiasts in the art of manually cutting words or symbols into jewelry and household objects, a craft often passed down from father to son.

"I don't want to see this tradition disappear," said Htiouich. "I'm afraid that one day there will be no succession."

The long-standing tradition, which has been practiced across North Africa and the Middle East for centuries, was added last month to UNESCO's intangible heritage list.

While it is gaining recognition abroad, local artisans regret that metal engraving remains undervalued at home and suffers from a lack of government support.

The UNESCO designation "commits us to preserving this exceptional know-how", said Imed Soula, a Tunisian artisan who helped get engraving nominated for the list.

Soula told AFP that local craftsmen were "inspired by the aesthetic, religious and cultural references of their societies" when creating the exquisite works.

At his workshop in the Den Den suburb of Tunis, Chiheb Eddine Ben Jabballah often teaches the craft to women looking to make jewelry or baskets with chiseled-copper ornaments.

The 68-year-old, who also heads Tunisia's national chamber of craftsmen, has trained hundreds of engravers over a career spanning five decades.

But he said the apprenticeships are often too short, lasting only three months.

"It takes at least two years to learn all the...