Iraqi workers from the city of Suleimania for a day onto the day beat stones with a fifty -degree heat to earn their living with such difficult work.
Masonry, which was popular in the past in the construction of housing and buildings, has lost its former brilliance with an increase in industrial building materials. Against the background of this situation, the number of masons began to decline. However, the masters of their craft continue to take the form of the stone and cut the patterns on them.
In an interview with Anadol, the 59-year-old Iraqi Mason Lutfullla Ismail said that he began to do stone affairs at the age of 18 and has been continuing to work in this area for 41 years.
According to the mason, his family lived on the income received from the processing of the stone.
“We pull the stones after they are already cleared of dirt. These stones are delivered to different regions of Kurdistan, from halabji to Erbil,” said Ismail.
The mason noted that white stones are of particular value, since because of their small amount they are in great demand.
In turn, the 35-year-old mason Ayup Muradhani said that he has been doing stone affairs for 15 years, regardless of the season.
“Hewreman is a famous and very beautiful stone. We are aging to maintain its beauty. This is a very difficult job, few can cope with it. If the stone is too well inlaid, then the worker makes on average 7 or 12 stones per day. case of ordinary work, the number of stones increases to 20-25, ”said Muradhani.