Oriental Weavers — Global Heshmat

Obelisk

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With the gradual privatisation of Gamal Abdel Nassers socialist planned economy under his successor Anwar Sadat, Heshmat established close relationships with industrialists such as Mohamed Farid Khamis (1940-2020), founder of the carpet manufacturer Oriental Weavers, and Louis Bishara, founder of the fashion company BTM. The Oriental Weavers Group was founded in 1979 by industrialist and entrepreneur Khamis. The Group has emerged from a single loom operation to the largest producer of machine-woven carpets in the world. According to Heshmats autobiography, a lion and an obelisk are standing at the headquarters in 10th of Ramadan City. The business tycoon, twenty years younger than Heshmat, became a cornerstone of Sadat’s infitah-policies (economic opening towards capitalism). Khamis served as head of the Egyptian Investors Federation. The artist writes: “The obelisk represents the body of Egypt, with its name written in hieroglyphics and its elements connected at the top. Approximately 4 metres of basalt stone in front of the Oriental Weavers Factory in 10th of Ramadan City in 1994.” (1997: 118)