Project Overview

To highlight the country’s rich culture, and tell it through beautiful centuries old stories, the Heritage Commission initiated the ‘Saudi International Crafts Week’ to empower artisans and support craft products in all regions of the Kingdom.
The major goals of this initiative are to market the Saudi product, support cultural and handcraft exchange with participating countries, and increase interest in handcrafts.

Organisation

Heritage Comission

Project Brief

As an initiative that supports culture and heritage, the space was turned into a large gallery, exhibiting large scale installations of traditional crafts (Sadu, Wood, Plaster Work, Zari, Wicker, Qatt and Pottery) made by local artists and borrowed for museums and personal collections.

Various booths were assigned to local and international artisan to enrich cultural exchange. The booths were designed with elements of Saudi heritage and each area was completed with an audio track to immerse the visitors in a storytelling journey.

Project Innovation/Need

The international booths sold more than 500,00 SAR, while overall sales exceeded 2,299,000 SAR with over 130,000 visitors. Moreover, there were 33 million views on social media,
as well as over 4,000 social media interactions.

Design Challenge

The project started smoothly until two weeks before the exhibition, when the exhibition needed to expand its space from the original 520 sqm to 750 sqm without increasing the budget and compromising the schedule. The challenge was resolved by re-drawing and re-spacing the installations and the exhibit plan, and it worked out wonderfully.

Sustainability

The project was created to support culture and heritage and educate the visitors on traditional crafts and history with a long-term aim of sustaining this heritage and merging it with the everyday modern life. It encourages creatives to explore local goods and express their art through sustainable materials.