Riyadh, January 05, 2025 – In a significant step to preserve and celebrate the Kingdom’s rich cultural heritage, the Royal Institute of Traditional Arts has launched the WRTH Community initiative. This initiative is a key part of the celebrations marking the Year of Handicrafts 2025, a year-long campaign dedicated to fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation for traditional Saudi arts and craftsmanship.
The WRTH Community initiative is designed to raise awareness about Saudi Arabia’s diverse traditional arts, while empowering individuals to learn, hone, and preserve these crafts. With an eye toward both local and global engagement, the program aims to encourage a broader audience to connect with the Kingdom’s unique cultural heritage.
A central feature of the initiative is a series of enlightening activities, which include three insightful discussion sessions. These discussions brought together a distinguished group of academics, artisans, trainers, and entrepreneurs, fostering meaningful exchanges and collaborations within the community. Attendees were treated to perspectives on the future of traditional arts, the importance of preserving them, and how they can be adapted and modernized for contemporary use.
In addition to these discussions, the initiative featured three specialized workshops, providing hands-on experiences in traditional arts. These workshops focused on learning the intricacies of time-honored patterns and techniques, with a special emphasis on how these ancient crafts can be integrated into modern product designs. The workshops centered on four fundamental materials that have been at the heart of Saudi traditional arts for centuries: stone, wood, ceramics, and metals. Each workshop offered practical sessions on how these materials could be shaped into culturally significant, yet innovative, works of art.
Over 60 participants, including skilled artisans and passionate enthusiasts, took part in the workshops and discussions, showing the growing interest and dedication to preserving and promoting Saudi Arabia’s craft traditions. The Royal Institute of Traditional Arts continues to play a pivotal role in championing the Kingdom’s national identity by safeguarding its rich artistic heritage and inspiring the younger generation to carry forward the legacy of traditional crafts.
By connecting history with modernity, the WRTH Community initiative encourages innovation while honoring the cultural roots that have shaped Saudi Arabia’s artistic identity. This program underscores the importance of sustaining these traditions and ensuring their relevance in the evolving cultural landscape of the Kingdom. Through such efforts, the Royal Institute of Traditional Arts is not only preserving the past but also laying the foundation for a dynamic and vibrant future for Saudi handicrafts.
