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RIYADH: ’s King Salman thanked God for the achievements made in the Kingdom on its national day.
In a post on X, the king wrote: “On the occasion of our National Day, we thank God for the achievements made in our beloved country, and for the national unity founded on Islamic law and justice.”
celebrates its national day on Sept. 23 every year to commemorate the unification of the Kingdom and its founding at the hands of King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al-Saud.
RIYADH: On the far southern shores of , where the Red Sea meets the islands of Farasan, heritage researcher and maritime expert Ibrahim Muftah often finds himself standing on the coastline, looking out at the horizon.
For Muftah, the waves carry memories of the great wooden ships that once defined life along these waters. These vessels were a source of livelihood and a symbol of pride, craftsmanship and connection to the sea.
Today, however, Muftah fears that this tradition is slipping away. “It saddens me that all the fathers who practiced this craft in Farasan have passed away, and only very few craftsmen remain,” he said.
“Most of those who once worked in pearl diving and collecting shells are gone. We live in a different era now, where younger generations know little about the sea.”
Muftah is the author of “The Sanbouk,” a book that documents traditional ships through illustrations and detailed descriptions.
For him, writing the book was a way to preserve the legacy of shipbuilding for future generations.
He believes the craft began to decline when modernity reached the coast — when imported ships and motorized engines replaced sails, and when education and new professional opportunities pulled young people away from the hard labor of the docks.
“To my knowledge, there are no active programs dedicated to reviving this craft, even though it remains an essential part of our heritage,” he said.
Despite these challenges, the story of Saudi shipbuilding is not one of complete loss. Across the Kingdom, new efforts are underway to breathe life back into the craft.
The Ministry of Culture and the Heritage Commission have made preserving traditional industries an important part of their agenda, recognizing them as key to ’s cultural identity.
In Jazan, heritage villages allow visitors to step back in time, with displays of old wooden vessels and maritime tools.
In the Eastern Province, the popular Eastern Coast Festival has reintroduced shipbuilding demonstrations after nearly five decades of decline.
At the festival, skilled craftsmen showcase the art of qalafa — the intricate process of wooden shipbuilding that relies on specialized tools and carefully selected types of wood.
Every detail, from bending the timber to fastening the planks, is achieved by hand, resulting in vessels strong enough to endure the sea’s waves and storms.
Craftsman Nasser Abdulatif Al-Duhaim is one of the guardians of this tradition. He described shipbuilding as one of the oldest practices in the Gulf, explaining that each type of vessel was designed with a purpose: Small boats for fishing, larger ones for trade, and others for the once-thriving pearl diving industry.
Building a large ship, he said, could take a year or more, while smaller vessels might require three to four months. Between five and ten craftsmen usually worked together on a single ship, making the process both physically demanding and deeply collaborative. “It is hard physical work,” he said, “but it carries cultural value that must not be lost.”
The timing of these revival efforts is significant. has declared 2025 the Year of Handicrafts, dedicating resources and attention to preserving traditional industries, including wooden shipbuilding.
The initiative includes specialized training programs, competitions, academic research and international exhibitions designed to showcase Saudi craftsmanship to the world.
The Royal Institute of Traditional Arts is also playing a key role by making educational programs available, ensuring that young Saudis can learn traditional crafts formally and carry them forward.
The Heritage Commission’s strategy is wide-ranging. Alongside organizing major events such as the Saudi International Handicrafts Week in Riyadh, where visitors can take part in hands-on workshops, the commission also focuses on documentation.
Books, research projects and archival initiatives are recording the history of traditional shipbuilding, including its role in fishing, trade and pearl diving.
Tourism is another tool: Heritage villages and cultural festivals give visitors a chance to see the craft up close, turning maritime heritage into a living, interactive experience.
For , this is about safeguarding cultural heritage and strengthening national identity in a rapidly modernizing world, remembering how the sea has always been central to life in the Kingdom’s coastal communities.
RIYADH: ’s space exploration ambitions are being driven by a generation of tech-savvy young nationals.
A group of dynamic professionals from the PIF-owned Neo Space Group have spoken about their aspirations to advance national objectives through space technology, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Abdullah Duwaihi Al-Anazi, a Space Communications Department engineer at the Satellite Operations Center, said that space capabilities directly correlated with technological sovereignty while creating substantial economic and scientific opportunities.
His colleague, Rayan Al-Zahrani from Satellite Communications Management, added that space investment gave the Kingdom autonomy in data and communications.
Strategy and Business Development Specialist Abdullah Al-Qarni added that space held opportunities for medical research, communications technology and economic opportunity.
He emphasized space technology’s role in supporting economic diversification initiatives and generating high-value employment opportunities.
Saudi professional contributions span satellite operations centers to information technology management, the SPA reported.
Satellite Operations Center Engineer Mohammed Al-Abbad said that local talent was a driving force in space technology.
Information Technology Department Data Analyst and Cybersecurity Specialist Manar Akef added that each Saudi professional contribution advanced the Kingdom toward self-sufficiency.
Space Systems Engineer Osama Adel Baabdullah positioned expertise as the cornerstone of technological sovereignty and the primary catalyst of space innovation.
NSG runs training programs ranging from administrative workshops to technical instruction, the SPA reported.
Engineer Osama Baabdullah praised the professional mentorship program facilitating direct engagement with executive leadership.
Satellite Operations Center Engineer Muayad Al-Makdoom cited benefits from the Lumofy platform and space communications courses in supporting innovation objectives.
Despite the sector’s nascency, Saudi youth encounter technical and infrastructural challenges that they reframe as development opportunities, the SPA reported.
Human Resources Information System Officer Ghadah Al-Dhalaan encapsulates this perspective, saying that challenges represent innovation and creativity opportunities.
The NSG was founded in 2024 by the PIF as a means of rapidly developing ’s space and satellite communications capabilities.
RIYADH: on Tuesday welcomed the recognition of the State of Palestine by France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Andorra, and San Marino during a high-level international conference on the Palestinian issue, co-chaired by France.
The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the successive recognitions “confirm the international consensus on the inherent right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, the establishment of their state, and the fulfillment of their aspirations for stability and prosperity.”
The Kingdom reiterated its call for all countries to recognize Palestine and to take concrete steps to support the Palestinian Authority and reinforce the two-state solution.
Such measures, it said, are essential to ending the suffering of the Palestinian people, safeguarding their legitimate rights, and ensuring lasting security and peace across the region.
RIYADH: The Saudi Data and AI Authority showcased the Kingdom’s approach to building advanced artificial-intelligence systems at the UN General Assembly in New York this week.
Raied Al-Jadaany, assistant CEO for computer vision and audio technologies at the SDAIA, outlined the Kingdom’s approach to the technology, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
“Successfully addressing the fundamental challenges these technologies present is essential for unlocking AI’s transformative potential for global society,” Al-Jadaany said in a presentation.
Speaking during another session, Rehab bint Saad Al-Arfaj, the SDAIA’s director-general of strategic partnerships and indicators, demonstrated how theory has been transformed into concrete improvements in the lives of citizens and residents.
Al-Arfaj said ’s National Data and AI Strategy recently earned first place in the Global AI Index’s government category.
A notable achievement has been Tawakkalna, the national application launched during the COVID-19 pandemic that has evolved into a unified platform offering over 1,000 government services.
The platform’s performance earned it the 2022 UN Public Service Award, for its substantial societal impact.
The Kingdom has also established a National Data Bank that connects more than 385 government platforms and provides access to 480 services.
This has generated substantial economic benefits, with savings and returns exceeding SR51 billion ($13.6 billion), according to the SPA.
Fawaz Al-Qahtani, director of modern technologies at the SDAIA’s National AI Center, addressed another session with strategies for using the technology.
He said automated technologies can generate cost savings between 10 and 30 percent.
also secured second place globally in public AI awareness, according to the 2023 Artificial Intelligence Index Report by Stanford University.
’s 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.
“For 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,” she said.
What excites her most is seeing young artists melt these heirlooms into jewelry that feels both ancient and modern.
“Sometimes I feel old items get locked away as lifeless antiques,” she added. “But when artists reshape them, it feels like they’re given a second life instead of ending up forgotten in a box.”
On the Red Sea coast in Jeddah, Rayan Al-Amoudi traces his love for copper back to childhood memories.
“I grew up watching my grandfather repair copper pots in the old souq,” he recalled.
Today, he sees his creative peers cutting and reshaping copper into wall art or light fixtures. “It’s a way of keeping our family traditions alive.”
For him, the movement also carries international weight. “In 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.”
Further east in Dhahran, designer Dana Al-Ansari sees experimentation as the defining mark of her generation. “What I love is how experimental it’s become. Some of my friends mix traditional brass patterns with acrylic or resin to make sculptures. It’s bold, unexpected, but still rooted in Saudi identity.
“Even when we add modern materials like resin or acrylic, the designs stay authentically Saudi. The goal isn’t to copy Western art — it’s to give our heritage a new voice.”
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: “The 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.”
His exhibition, “The Neglected,” 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.
“My ultimate goal is to give scrap metal a new life,” Al-Amri told Arab News. “Art should protect the earth as much as it inspires the soul.”
At Riyadh’s Naila Art Gallery earlier this year, artist Fatimah Al-Nemer presented “Memory of Clay,” 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: “This is not merely an aesthetic celebration. It’s a rewriting of our communal identity. Our heritage is rich.”
Her collaboration with Saudi craftswomen ensured generational knowledge was embedded in the work. For her, clay is a mirror of memory, “cracking to reveal hidden layers of nostalgia and wisdom,” she told Arab News at the time.
Participation in international art fairs has shown Saudi crafts in a new light. Al-Nemer’s clay installations resonate globally as meditations on memory and identity, while Al-Amri’s upcycled sculptures echo environmental discourses from Tokyo to Paris.
As Al-Nemer told Arab News: “Craft is no longer confined to the past — it is a living contemporary practice with global relevance.”
