Revealed On 30 Sep 2025
Within the slender alleys of Outdated Mosul, as soon as the proud coronary heart of Iraq’s shoemaking business, the workshops are coming alive once more.
After years of battle and destruction, artisans like 58-year-old Saad Abdul Aal are reviving a convention that dates again greater than 1,000 years.
Shoemaking in Iraq, often known as al-qandarjiya, flourished in the course of the Abbasid Caliphate, when Baghdad was a worldwide hub of commerce and tradition.
Generations of households devoted their lives to remodeling rawhide into sturdy footwear, their expertise handed down from grasp to apprentice.
Earlier than the conflict, the capital metropolis of Baghdad had greater than 250 factories, whereas Mosul boasted over 50. Iraqi-made footwear have been prized for his or her magnificence and resilience – an emblem of nationwide delight.
“Our work started greater than 40 years in the past,” says Abdul Aal, his fingers fast and regular as he trims a chunk of leather-based. “I discovered the occupation, fell in love with it, and by no means left it.”
That proud custom practically disappeared in 2014, when ISIL (ISIS) seized Mosul. Workshops and factories have been bombed, looted, or deserted.
Abdul Aal misplaced every part – his gear, his store, his employees. “Bombings, destruction,” he recollects. “There was no cash even to think about beginning once more.”
By the tip of the conflict, Mosul’s 50 factories had dwindled to fewer than 10. Hundreds of shoemakers have been left unemployed, their expertise susceptible to vanishing.
The turning level got here with the Worldwide Group for Migration’s (IOM’s) Enterprise Improvement Fund-Tameer, which supplied grants and coaching to displaced entrepreneurs and returnees.
For Abdul Aal, this was a possibility to purchase stitching and urgent machines, reopen his workshop, and rent employees.
“It’s not simple, however little by little we’re transferring ahead,” he says.
At the moment, Abdul Aal produces about 4 pairs of footwear a day – fewer than earlier than, however sufficient to maintain his enterprise alive. Competitors from low cost imports is fierce, however he insists Iraqi craftsmanship nonetheless has an edge.
“Our footwear are real leather-based; they final. Imported footwear might seem visually interesting, however they lack high quality.
“In distinction, the footwear produced in my manufacturing facility are visually much like imported footwear however supply superior high quality.
“That’s what makes us proud.”
