黑料社区

黑料社区鈥檚 traditional crafts, once displayed as tokens of nostalgia in souqs and heritage festivals, are finding fresh life in the hands of a new generation.

Young artists are experimenting with copper, silver, brass, palm fronds, clay and wool, preserving techniques passed down through generations and reshaping them into contemporary works.

In Madinah, collector Somayya Al-Shareef describes her relationship with traditional silver pieces as a kind of dialogue across time.

鈥淔or me, antique silver pieces are like silent storytellers. I buy them not only for their beauty but for the lives they touched before reaching me,鈥� she said.

What excites her most is seeing young artists melt these heirlooms into jewelry that feels both ancient and modern.

鈥淪ometimes I feel old items get locked away as lifeless antiques,鈥� she added. 鈥淏ut when artists reshape them, it feels like they鈥檙e given a second life instead of ending up forgotten in a box.鈥�

On the Red Sea coast in Jeddah, Rayan Al-Amoudi traces his love for copper back to childhood memories.

鈥淚 grew up watching my grandfather repair copper pots in the old souq,鈥� he recalled.

Today, he sees his creative peers cutting and reshaping copper into wall art or light fixtures. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a way of keeping our family traditions alive.鈥�

For him, the movement also carries international weight. 鈥淚n Jeddah, small workshops are run by young people experimenting with copper. Some pieces are now showcased abroad, which makes me feel our heritage can become a global brand.鈥�

Further east in Dhahran, designer Dana Al-Ansari sees experimentation as the defining mark of her generation. 鈥淲hat I love is how experimental it鈥檚 become. Some of my friends mix traditional brass patterns with acrylic or resin to make sculptures. It鈥檚 bold, unexpected, but still rooted in Saudi identity.

鈥淓ven when we add modern materials like resin or acrylic, the designs stay authentically Saudi. The goal isn鈥檛 to copy Western art 鈥� it鈥檚 to give our heritage a new voice.鈥�

In Jeddah, Mishal Al-Amri has been reshaping traditional metalwork. Where most people see scrap destined for landfill, Al-Amri sees raw material for art.

Over two decades, he has collected rusted bolts, pipes and discarded iron, welding them into large-scale sculptures.

As Arab News reported in July, Al-Amri said: 鈥淭he artist has an eye that sees what others cannot, an eye that captures the beauty in the heart of the damaged and neglected, and restores it to life and meaning.鈥�

His exhibition, 鈥淭he Neglected,鈥� invited audiences to see beauty in what was once abandoned. Beyond aesthetics, his work carried a message of sustainability: Recycling harmful waste into artistic forms that inspire environmental consciousness.

鈥淢y ultimate goal is to give scrap metal a new life,鈥� Al-Amri told Arab News. 鈥淎rt should protect the earth as much as it inspires the soul.鈥�

At Riyadh鈥檚 Naila Art Gallery earlier this year, artist Fatimah Al-Nemer presented 鈥淢emory of Clay,鈥� an exhibition that reinterpreted ancestral crafts as conceptual art.

Using palm fibers, clay and wool, she created installations that blurred the line between utility and expression.

As Arab News reported in May, Al-Nemer said: 鈥淭his is not merely an aesthetic celebration. It鈥檚 a rewriting of our communal identity. Our heritage is rich.鈥�

Her collaboration with Saudi craftswomen ensured generational knowledge was embedded in the work. For her, clay is a mirror of memory, 鈥渃racking to reveal hidden layers of nostalgia and wisdom,鈥� she told Arab News at the time.

Participation in international art fairs has shown Saudi crafts in a new light. Al-Nemer鈥檚 clay installations resonate globally as meditations on memory and identity, while Al-Amri鈥檚 upcycled sculptures echo environmental discourses from Tokyo to Paris.

As Al-Nemer told Arab News: 鈥淐raft is no longer confined to the past 鈥� it is a living contemporary practice with global relevance.鈥�