Preserving Heritage,
Empowering Women

We are proud to be part of Egypt's rich heritage in handcrafted arts. Baddara represents a community of skilled women artisans who passionately preserve traditional crafts, transforming them into contemporary products that meet the needs of modern life.

We offer a carefully crafted selection of handmade items, from palm frond and wicker accessories to decorative home pieces. Each product reflects the beauty of Egypt's nature and rich heritage, embodying stories of tradition passed down through generations.

We invite you to explore our unique collection and support the talented women artisans of Baddara who are committed to empowering women by reviving traditional crafts in a way that suits today's world.

Abeer Gedawy —
Born in the Desert, Trained in Florence

"Hard work trumps talent — and these women have both."

— Abeer Gedawy, Founder

Born and educated in the New Valley Oases, an Egyptian region rich in scenic landscapes — palm trees and nature — where she learned at the hands of her grandmothers the art of nature-inspired embroidery.

With growing interest in handicrafts and heritage, Abeer moved to Cairo where she obtained a scholarship to study at the Plaza Spinelli Institute in Florence, Italy, where she specialized in tourist handicrafts.

Upon her return to Egypt, she developed traditional handmade products turning them into modern everyday utilities that fit the needs of daily life, while creating channels of social and economic empowerment to female handicrafts in several regions.

Abeer worked as a trainer specializing in developing environmentally-friendly handmade products from palm residues, especially palm wicker products sourced from many regions in Egypt including the New Valley, Dahshur, and Nubia.

Her skills coupled with the collaboration of several development partners such as the National Council for Women and the Industrial Modernization Center earned her numerous awards throughout her career.

A Whisk Basket That
Changed Everything

As she accumulated experiences, Abeer realized that her mission was to bring together all the women she trained under one roof. There she established Baddara — which in the Siwa language means a whisk basket — a simple, humble object with an extraordinary story.

She founded Baddara in 2017, through which Abeer and her team of skilled female artisans used agricultural waste from wicker, lemon palm, halfa plants and banana leaf waste as basic raw materials for modern products inspired by nature and heritage. The project was also consolidated with the aim of training women from the villages of Dahshur and reviving the art of rural embroidery.

Abeer Gedawy created a new line of very distinct products from palm tree and other natural elements' residues, with motifs inspired from the Egyptian countryside in Giza and the oases of the Western Desert.

Furthermore, and through Baddara, Abeer is continuously working to develop her products and business models to cater to the increasing demand locally and internationally, namely the GCC and Europe.

This project, initiated by Abeer's personal commitment and self-financing, has now evolved to stand among Ebda3 men Masr's famous successful partnerships.

The Hands Behind
Every Piece

Women empowerment is an essential chapter in Abeer's story. Not only has she risen from a very traditional rural environment to become an acclaimed entrepreneur, she has also strived to empower young and skilled female artisans who have become the engine behind her success.

Through their unique skills, women of the New Valley and Dahshur transformed nature-inspired motifs into a form of fine art. With the evolution of this philosophy since the inception of Baddara, these motifs became a signature of Abeer's products, rendered even more valuable by the special handmade rural embroidery from the hands of Baddara's beneficiaries.

Baddara further owes its success to the diversity of products, made available to the public with an increasing number of trained beneficiaries who have combined their innate skills and capacity-building opportunities to unleash their distinctive creativity through embroidery, palm leaf products, and natural leather.

Abeer Gedawy wishes to transform Baddara into the center of oasis and rural handicrafts in Egypt — an example and success story of social and economic empowerment originating from rural areas such as Dahshur and the New Valley oases.

Four Pillars of Baddara