Why it belongs in ORBIS
Ceramicist Dalia Mobasher designs and throws the Nebula and Midnight lines of espresso cups, pinch pots and mugs at her New Cairo studio. Fokhara also runs tailor-made wheel and hand-building workshops for all skill levels.
Fokhara was founded in 2018 by Dalia Mobasher, a highway-design engineer who left that career after teaching pottery in Abu Dhabi and decided to open a studio of her own back home in Egypt. The New Cairo space teaches the full pottery process across two core disciplines, hand-building and wheel-throwing, with Mobasher stating her aim is for students to leave "true artisans" rather than having taken a one-off fun class. Alongside instruction, Fokhara designs and produces handmade espresso cups, pinch pots and mugs sold through its shop. Mobasher has described pottery as a way to work through anxiety and find focus by putting attention into making something by hand, a view that shapes the studio's slower, technique-first teaching style rather than quick craft sessions aimed at casual visitors. Classes run for all skill levels, and the studio has said it wants to grow into a broader arts space over time, eventually adding crystal work, candle-making and jewelry alongside its ceramics program. For visitors, Fokhara offers both finished studio ceramics to buy and hands-on classes to learn the craft directly from its founder, in a shop built specifically around one maker's decision to trade an engineering career for pottery.