A BAHRAINI carpenter hopes to become the first in the Middle East to export handmade furniture made of recycled wood.

Ehsan Al Mubarak has been carving local wood for nearly two decades, and has decided to take his business global.

He said the art of using reclaimed wood to make furniture is an extinct profession in Bahrain, which has lost him tens of thousands of dinars.

However, despite the challenges Mr Al Mubarak plans to embark on a mission to make traditional Bahraini carpentry attractive again.

“I used to work as a flight attendant and one day I saw a magazine called Log Home,” he told the GDN.

“It had pictures of furniture made of wood and it looked amazing.

“My friend Talib Mahfooth and I got some ghaf wood, which is the same type of tree as the Tree of Life, and we tried
it ourselves.

“I thought we’d come up with something beautiful, so I continued to do it.”

The father-of-three has spent almost 20 years mastering the art, but has faced difficulties in exposing his work to people in Bahrain.

“People were encouraging, so I began working on it more and more,” he said.

“However, I’ve never been able to properly expose our art and work to people who are interested in these items, or know their worth.

“Everything we create is handmade, so it takes a lot of labour and time. For example, a three-seater can take 20 days to complete.”

The 47-year-old explained the wood has to be treated first before it could be turned into furniture.

“At first we didn’t know the wood could go bad and that there were woodworms we had to get rid of,” he said.

“We were told we had to use chemicals to treat the wood before we could start working
with it.”

He said some pieces were easier to carve than others.

“We have to treat some pieces and can use them to turn into furniture in two weeks,” he said.

“But then there are some we have to store for six months or a year before we can start using them.

“That means it takes long-term planning and I have to constantly have a large supply of logs and wood.”

To ensure longevity Mr Al Mubarak uses different methods to put furniture together.

“Screws actually affect the wood and decrease its longevity,” he said.

“So we don’t use screws in any of our projects.

“What we do is create grooves in the different pieces of wood and make sure they fit in perfectly. That means it looks smoother and will
last longer.”

However, Mr Al Mubarak said he sometimes considers throwing in the towel.

“I am the most optimistic person – I would not have continued so long despite not making a lot of money if I didn’t love it and if I wasn’t optimistic that things could change,” he said.

“However, sometimes I think I’ll leave this job and do something else, since I don’t feel my work is appreciated.

“I have invested more than BD30,000 into my work and I have not made a profit yet.

“The work just isn’t appreciated here. It is appreciated a lot more abroad.”

“I have three-seaters priced at BD280 and some people will say that’s too expensive.

“But this is all handmade from Bahraini wood. Bahrain is not a forest, we don’t have an endless supply of wood that we can just chop down.

“It’s hard to get the right type of wood, and we have to treat it after we get it.

“Similar pieces are priced double abroad.”

Mr Al Mubarak also plans to one day display his work, which include furniture and household accessories, at the Bahrain International Garden Show to expose the industry to potential investors.

For more information, contact Mr Al Mubarak on 39087107.
laala@gdn.com.bh