Behind the tourist face of the souk, a revival of craft is being led by Tunisians in their twenties.
Step off the main tourist routes of the Tunis medina and a quieter story is unfolding. A new generation of young makers, in ceramics, leather, textiles and design, is taking over workshops and reworking traditional crafts for a contemporary market.
They blend old techniques with modern taste, sell through social media as much as the souk, and treat heritage as raw material rather than relic. Many studied or worked abroad and chose to come home, betting that there is a living to be made in doing things well by hand.
It is fragile, dependent on tourism, rents and the patience of the market. But it points to a version of the medina that is a place of production again, rather than only a backdrop for photographs. That is worth paying attention to.
