A small Damascene bazaar in a serene courtyard of the 16th-century building complex of Takiyya Al Sulaymaniyah – named after the Ottoman leader Suleyman – is bustling.
The mosque and its two slim minarets – built in 1554 by Ottoman architect Sinan – is a must-see attraction in Syria's capital, and the marketplace in front of them remains one of the city's hidden gems.
A plethora of antique souvenir shops, old carpentry stores and copper plate makers hide the biggest jewel of all: one of the last remaining brocade sellers in the country.
There aren’t 100 metres of hand-made brocade left in the country
Maher Derki,
brocade trader
Maher Derki, 17, sits in front of a shop that has been in his family for more than half a century, showing off different brocade fabrics and rugs.
His family has been in the brocade trade for almost 100 years, beginning with his grandfather, Mohammed Saleem Derki (Abu Diab).
For a teenager, Maher is well-versed in the intricacies of brocade, a mix of natural silk, silver and gold woven fabric that has attracted the most regal of customers, including Marie Antoinette and Queen Elizabeth II.
In fact, Queen Elizabeth's famed wedding dress, featuring a drawing of two love birds kissing, was made using brocade fabric imported from Damascus.
“A real metre of brocade depends on whether the silk is natural or not and whether it’s done by hand or machine,” he says with authority.
“The handmade original, if you can even find some in all of Syria, is scarce; there aren’t 100 metres of handmade brocade left in the country. And even then, that’s almost invaluable.”
Brocade is strongly associated with Damascus, yet it is an Italian name derived from the word “pocatello”, which denotes a silk cloth embellished with silver or gold threads.
While Syrians have been manufacturing this highly detailed and colourful thread since the 11th century with Chinese imported silk, the town of Dreikish in Tartus is famous for raising silkworms.
But a lack of tourism and decreased demand for brocade after the outbreak of war in the country has ripped the industry to shreds.
“Most of what is present today is the brocade made by machines,” Maher says. “The handmade types are almost entirely extinct, they don’t make them any more. It’s not impossible to revive it, but it needs a significant effort.”
Before the crisis, we used to go to all the expos and Paris, London, we were everywhere
Samer Derki,
brocade trader
As we talk, Maher’s father, Samer, whose name graces the shop entrance, calls.
“I don’t go to the store any more,” he says with a heavy voice. “I have three factories and have to keep up making materials, but anyone who is looking into brocade, we are supportive of and will help those wanting to revive this tradition.”
When asked whether he thinks the business is dead, he says: “Brocade needs an incubator, brocade is the idea of a machine and this machine is easy, we can create 200-odd machines and get people to start doing it over again. It needs a generation.
“There is brocade in Pakistan and Turkey, but it’s not the same as here.
“If you want to go back to handmade times, it needs marketing because you and I are unable to restore this at the time.”
It’s difficult to fathom that such a central part of Syrian history needs marketing.
“Before the crisis, we used to go to all the expos and Paris, London, we were everywhere,” Samer says. “Even in the Gulf, we would spend months in expos, whereas now, we don’t have that type of exposure any more. It’s all gone.”
Samer’s father helped make the fabric for Queen Elizabeth's wedding dress in 1947 under a special request from the Syrian embassy in London. Shukri Al Quwatli, the president at the time, obtained 200 metres of brocade with 10-karat gold threads.
“My father was an innovator in this field. Even the wedding dress worn by Elizabeth, several people worked on it to get that end product fabric. My father was in this project from A to Z; he worked with Al Naasan, where the dress fabric came from.”
The war signalled the beginning of the end for the brocade trade, as the focus shifted away from heritage and crafts.
However, the preservation and revival of such important elements of Syria’s history can only pave a path towards a more certain future.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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The End of Loneliness
Benedict Wells
Translated from the German by Charlotte Collins
Sceptre
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Sanju
Produced: Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Rajkumar Hirani
Director: Rajkumar Hirani
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal, Paresh Rawal, Anushka Sharma, Manish’s Koirala, Dia Mirza, Sonam Kapoor, Jim Sarbh, Boman Irani
Rating: 3.5 stars
PREMIER LEAGUE STATS
Romelu Lukaku's goalscoring statistics in the Premier League
Season/club/appearances (substitute)/goals
2011/12 Chelsea: 8(7) - 0
2012/13 West Brom (loan): 35(15) - 17
2013/14 Chelsea: 2(2) - 0
2013/14 Everton (loan): 31(2) - 15
2014/15 Everton: 36(4) - 10
2015/16 Everton: 37(1) - 18
2016/17 Everton: 37(1) - 25
