RIYADH: As Saudi Arabia’s cultural scene expands rapidly, Saudi female creatives are looking to the future as well as the past by preserving and showcasing Saudi craftsmanship in their work.
Hana Almili, Abeer Al-Rabeeah and Rawan Al-Sehli weave their country’s heritage into innovative works that reflect today’s rapidly changing contemporary society.
hana almili
Riyadh-based multimedia artist, textile designer and poet Hana Almili’s practice is research-based and explores the idea of revitalizing identity through the material culture of textiles and assemblages.
‘Memory Apparent’ by Abeer Alrabia is a light sculpture of what she calls ‘the fading of memories’. Shadows represent forgotten memories. (Supplied / Abeer Al Rabia)
Almili, who has Turkish, Syrian, Kurdish and Saudi heritage, explores questions of identity and alienation in her work, particularly through the representation of the word al-ghorba, which in Arabic means settlement in a foreign land. .
Her artwork incorporates elements of photography, embroidery, dyeing and weaving.
“My work ranges from embroidered printed silks, hand woven and naturally dyed fabrics, and finally, jacquard woven fabrics,” she told Arab News. “I incorporate crafts using modern techniques of weaving, natural dyeing and embroidery in a traditional, yet, way to produce my work.”
HighLight
As the Kingdom goes through a cultural transformation, Saudi artists are ushering in a promising future with their pulse on the past. Hana Almili, Abeer Al-Rabeeah and Rawan Al-Sehli are Saudi women artists weaving their country’s heritage into innovative works of art that reflect today’s rapidly changing contemporary society.
In the recent exhibition “Performing Bodies” at the Riyadh-based Lakum Artspace, Almili presented “If Voice Has a Memory (2022)”.
The wooden frame work was done with 100 percent naturally hand-dyed cotton yarn, organic cotton, silk and stainless conductive thread.
Through the incorporation of mixed media, the installation focused on remembering, nostalgia and feelings of alienation from ancestors and heritage.
‘Memory Transformed’ by Rawan Al-Sehli is ‘wearable art’ that preserves Saudi heritage.
The sonic component of the work includes imagery and sound frequencies that Almili relates to his Kurdish, Syrian, Turkish and Saudi heritage.
“Using imagery and sound memories from Kurdistan, Syria, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, this piece is a reflection of the intermingling cultures that make up my identity,” she said.
It not only explores sound as a medium for expression, but also examines how different frequencies can act as therapy, opening access to hidden memories and helping to recreate them. Can create new routes for
“I am constantly defined by the topography and its isolation. Every piece of me has felt that I should be somewhere, but I yearn for somewhere else, a home for my soul,” she said.
“While studying abroad, I have found that clothing has been the place where I belong, where the sense of alienation disappears. The act of embroidering, dyeing and shaping my clothes as if they were self-portraits was almost an act of shaping a home and my own geography. Within these fragments I keep a map of belonging, a map of being.
abir al-rabiya
As an industrial designer, Abeer Al Rabiyah, who recently completed a residency at the Misk Art Institute in Riyadh, draws from a variety of manufacturers to create his creations in a sustainable and eco-friendly way, with references to Saudi heritage and craftsmanship. Involves various ingredients.
“In traditional Saudi crafts, people use materials that are available around them to create iconic traditional craftwork,” she told Arab News. “Similarly, I picked up existing used pieces of 7x7cm wood, which helped make many buildings in Saudi Arabia, to make concrete, and hand-crafted my sculpture.”
This is the art I present to the world, say Rawan al-Sehli
During her residency with Misk Art, Alarabia created “Memory Apparent”, a light sculpture she calls “the fading of memories”. It was built from 7x7cm white-painted reclaimed wood pieces of various heights to form a 1x1x1-metre cube with a pulsating light inside.
“The cube looks more solid from below, but on top, I scattered pieces of wood to create gaps between them that represent our memories that have faded,” she said.
“The light inside the sculpture intentionally casts shadows of floating pieces of wood against the walls. These shadows are our forgotten memories; they are in the shadows and we cannot see them anymore. I created this light sculpture for myself and others. Made as a reminder to try to enjoy the present because we don’t know if we will be able to remember these moments in the future.
Alarabia is conducting research into traditional Saudi crafts. “I would like to design contemporary products while staying true to the local crafts we have in Saudi Arabia,” she said.
Rawan al-Sehli
Jewelry designer Rawan Al-Sehli is on a mission to revive traditional Saudi jewelry through his hand-crafted contemporary designs.
Al-Sehli completed a residency at the Misk Art Institute from September to December 2022, his first experience as an artist-in-residence.
The title of the collection he created during that time was “Memory Transformed”.
She often refers to her creations – a mix of jewelry techniques and research that revive and preserve Saudi architecture, history, culture and traditional jewelry – as “wearable art”.
“My research focuses on reviving traditional practices used by our ancestors in Saudi Arabia that have faded due to globalization and technology, such as palm fronds and palm leaves, and the meaning of generosity in Saudi hospitality, And then reflected in modern jewelry pieces. Which was implemented through traditional methods,” she said.
“This is the art that I present to the world. It is a piece of jewelry born of research and facts that reflects the richness and diversity of Saudi Arabian culture.
In each of her jewelery collections, Al-Sehli aims to reflect elements that reflect the richness of Saudi architecture and heritage, as well as the diversity of cultures in the Kingdom.
He added that each collection is prepared after research by historians and recorded with facts, some of which require approval from Saudi universities and registered studies.
“It is truly like winning a difficult challenge to redefine research and facts into wearable pieces of art,” said Al-Sehli.
“Words are not enough to describe my joy with what Saudi Arabia is seeing today regarding the country’s renewed interest in its traditional craftsmanship.
“I am also proud to have played an important role teaching traditional jewelry crafting in the Kingdom with the Royal Institute of Traditional Arts,” she said.
“I ensure that my jewelry is displayed both internally and internationally. For me, it is a language, dialogue and local and international discussion. There is a collection that reflects Islamic architecture and another that reflects ancient civilizations, And recently revives the traditional practices of our forefathers.