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In the Past - Today
A traditional part of our annual planning is the Sighthound-festival
at Donaueschingen - the idea for the Sloughi-World was also formed
over there. Friends from the most distant parts of Germany and from
abroad came. As we have the shortest way, so I had an idea:
We'll fetch an original tent from Tunisia made of goat-hair and
take some tasty food with us. And so we did!
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| photo: Stephan Eberhardt |
I went to friends to borrow their tent.
They were startled and looked at me - as I was there in my small
car (Ford KA!) standing in front of the door and thinking there
would be enough room for the tent. The tent 7x4 m - it won't be
toooo big - but it was - and had much more weight ... The boot was
full, "you see it fits in, though". But still there were
some 50 branches of mini-size up to the size of a man! The return
journey was everything but not very convenient, what ought I to
say
Donaueschingen drew near, everything was well organised, but the
weather, will it be fine? The quality of a goat-hair-tent is very
special. When the weather is hot, the threads become wider so the
air can circulate and it gets cooler, if the weather is moist the
threads draw together and shelter of wetness, but so it gets too
heavy and impossible to be carried. But this is no problem in the
desert as the sun will come and dry it. It is quite different in
our regions .
Early on the exhibition day I set off for Donaueschingen and it
came as it shouldn't have come. It didn't rain but it poured! A
bright outlook indeed! When arrived, one could see several tents
covered with water and collapse by the weight of it.
Well then! Pitch it up, of course. In 15 min we (2 people) pitched
the tent up - set up a record. The first attempt at home lasted
nearly an hour.
The construction of the tent is simple and well thought out: "The
Southtunisian Tent, called Kheima, consists of long, narrow ribbon,
which are woven from goat-and-camel-hair and sewn together. The
roof is strained over some light branches and with wedges in the
ground fastened. One can pull it down very fast, fasten it on a
camel's back, and pitch it up again in a short time. The low rectangular
accommodation can be made more comfortable by some carpets".
(J. Schramm, Page 16)
Overthere one can find the tent still today, perhaps not that often
as in former times: "In regions with little and irregular rainfall
the cattle-breeding-and-nomadic-life is the only possibility of
economic occupation besides using the mineral resources. The scarce
grass and bushes are fast fed on, so the animals have to walk far
distances in a short time. As the man has to follow his animals,
he builds a light accommodation, a tent easy to be transported or
a shelter from materials he finds there." (ibidem) More about
it you can read in the edition
6 of Sloughi-World.
Everything (almost) fits in, fantastic tent, fantastic people,
but not a trace of relaxation for me, again and again dark clouds,
but only drizzle. Nothing but eating, walking the hounds, chatting
- so we forgot to take a photo of the tent at Donaueschingen. Who
knows? There will perhaps be a repetition of this tent-activity?
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| photo: P.A. Kröhnert |
photo: P.A. Kröhner |
Adapted from: Josef Schramm, "Tunesien - Land zwischen Sand
und Meer" Pannonia-Verlag Freilassing, 1965 page 16.
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