RIYADH: In the Year of Handicrafts, no other event highlights heritage more than the annual Banan festival, which is celebrating handicrafts from more than 20 countries until Nov. 26 in Riyadh.

The event underlines national efforts to spotlight Saudi handicrafts and empower practitioners, while it provides a space for artisans to come together, with women taking a leading role.

Rahaf Al-Harthi, who has visited the festival, said: “Banan is an amazing place because it shows just how capable Saudi women are in creating. That’s something we’re really proud of.”

Sadu weaving is a traditional Bedouin craft which uses wool to create brightly colored geometric shapes. The festival features Sadu weaving in abaya designs, clothing, keychains and other objects.

Al-Harthi and her sister Ohood, whose mother is a Sadu weaver participating at Banan, attended the event to witness the diversity in cultures and meet the special guests from around the world.

Al-Harthi said: “It’s a beautiful thing to grow up and observe this craft. Women back then didn’t have the resources to make clothing, jewelry, (and) tents, so they made everything from scratch.

“The Sadu weaving, (and) Al-Qatt Al-Asiri were things they used to decorate their homes, and when you look at the resources back then, they had very little. But the power of the Saudi woman enabled her to produce these things.”

Ohood said: “As visitors we see the diversity. We have people from Hail, Jouf, Madinah, and all the crafts from around the Kingdom are right here so we can see the diversity, whether it’s ancient crafts or new modernized versions of them.

“Banan has left a very beautiful mark on heritage and anyone who hasn’t visited, should do.”

Saudi artist Duha Akhdar, representing the Al-Qatif region in the Eastern Province, specializes in knot artistry and macrame. Inspired by fishnets, she creates handmade macrame hanging baskets, keychains, ornaments and decorative pieces using rope.

From tree branches commonly used in older houses as ceiling features, she creates a base, carved in decorative calligraphy, for a boat topped with a rope-knotted sail.

Akhdar’s creations are based on knotting techniques, and to date she has trained more than 600 people in the craft, including many with disabilities.

She told Arab News: “It’s beautiful to be here among a huge number of craftsmen and women from across the Kingdom and beyond, to give an introduction to this craft and its origins, seeing as this handicraft dates back to the 13th century.

“I was studying in Canada in 2015 and living with families, and one of them was a Mexican family and this was a craft that had been passed down for generations.

“It impressed me how they took a cotton reel and transformed it into large pieces and products. I was captivated by this and wanted to learn the art.”

After coming back to Saudi Arabia, she began researching the topic and found that a similar type of knot crafting was practiced traditionally by Arabs.

She has now been practicing it for 10 years. In some of her newer works she creates decorative pieces inspired by the Kaaba, one of which she presented to the Minister of Hajj and Umrah Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, while another features the name of Allah in Arabic, which she presented to Prince Saud bin Nayef Al-Saud, the governor of the Eastern Province.

Nata Nikoleishvili, who hails from Georgia, is in business with her mother to create unique handmade clothing.

They work with fabrics such as cotton, silk, and linen. Their technique includes wool felting, which has an ancient history in Georgia, and fabric pattern printing methods utilizing leaves and plants.

Nikoleishvili said: “We were excited to get an invitation (from Banan) and we tried for months to get everything ready for this event. I hope it will be something that will bolster our business.”

Afaf Dajam became interested in documenting the art of Al-Qatt Al-Asiri in 2017, as she was participating in a workshop in honor of the craft being included in UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

She placed three designs in her studio and used them as inspiration to create modern takes of the craft in her work.

She told Arab News: “Al-Qatt Al-Asiri being recognized by UNESCO has revived the craft and brought it to the world’s attention, and the Ministry of Culture, and the Heritage Commission.

“It has prompted training workshops, some of which I have given.

“Banan is an international platform that brings together artists from across the globe. I myself am gaining inspiration from others, and vice versa. We’re benefiting from each others’ crafts … And I can see similarities between us and different regions, especially in India, North Africa, and Mexico.”