Printed On 30 Sep 2025
Within the slim alleys of Outdated Mosul, as soon as the proud coronary heart of Iraq’s shoemaking trade, the workshops are coming alive once more.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, generally known as al-qandarjiya, flourished throughout the Abbasid Caliphate, when Baghdad was a worldwide hub of commerce and tradition.
Generations of households devoted their lives to reworking rawhide into sturdy footwear, their abilities 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 sneakers have been prized for his or her class and resilience – an emblem of nationwide pleasure.
“Our work started greater than 40 years in the past,” says Abdul Aal, his arms fast and regular as he trims a chunk of leather-based. “I discovered the career, fell in love with it, and by no means left it.”
That proud custom almost disappeared in 2014, when ISIL (ISIS) seized Mosul. Workshops and factories have been bombed, looted, or deserted.
Abdul Aal misplaced every thing – his tools, his store, his employees. “Bombings, destruction,” he remembers. “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 abilities susceptible to vanishing.
The turning level got here with the Worldwide Group for Migration’s (IOM’s) Enterprise Growth Fund-Tameer, which offered grants and coaching to displaced entrepreneurs and returnees.
For Abdul Aal, this was a chance to purchase stitching and urgent machines, reopen his workshop, and rent employees.
“It’s not straightforward, however little by little we’re shifting ahead,” he says.
In the present day, Abdul Aal produces about 4 pairs of sneakers 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 sneakers are real leather-based; they final. Imported sneakers might seem visually interesting, however they lack high quality.
“In distinction, the sneakers produced in my manufacturing facility are visually just like imported sneakers however provide superior high quality.
“That’s what makes us proud.”
