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Al-Ahsa: In the heart of Al-Ahsa’s desert oasis, where palm trees stretch endlessly across the horizon, the ancient art of Al-Khoos weaving is being reimagined by a new generation of Saudi creators. 

Al-Khoos Residency, held from Oct. 3-14, gathered Saudi artists and designers to explore how the palm-weaving tradition can inspire contemporary design and architecture.

Once a humble craft of necessity, the practice is now finding renewed meaning in architecture, art and design — serving as a bridge between heritage and the future.

For architect and designer Abeer Seikaly, Al-Khoos is more than a craft; it is a dialogue between humanity and nature, a rhythm of giving and gratitude passed down through the palm tree itself.

“Al-Khoos weaving grows from the palm, a tree that defines the natural and cultural landscape of �������� and carries the memory of its land,” Seikaly told Arab News. “Every part of it has a use, every part holds knowledge. The act of weaving is an act of gratitude … it extends the life of the palm into objects that serve and endure.”

To Seikaly, architecture and craft share the same devotion and respect for material. “Architecture is born from the same understanding that guides the hand of the craftsman,” she said. “When I look to traditional crafts, I see a system of thought and a way of relating to the earth and to community. True progress is continuity through understanding.”

Her approach embodies the essence of Al-Khoos: creating harmony between the hand and the land. “The craftsman, the architect, the farmer — all speak the same language through their hands,” she said. “To see this harmony is to rediscover balance between human and earth, between work and worship.”

Through her work, she hopes audiences rediscover the sacred connection between making and meaning.

For artist and researcher Maisa Shaldan, the threads of Al-Khoos hold more than beauty — they hold memory. Her project, “Al-Khoos Memory: Silent Civilization,” explores how weaving becomes a form of remembrance.

“Within its strands lies the silence of centuries and the memory of hands that shaped the world through patience and rhythm,” she said. “The act of weaving mirrors the act of remembering, where threads from different times intertwine to form a single fabric that resists disappearance.”

Shaldan sees the craft as a universal language that transcends cultures. “Wherever it is practiced, the palm-leaf weave follows a familiar rhythm, as if the same stories are told anew within its strands,” she said.

To her, memory is both loom and thread, the invisible structure that ties the past to the present: “In traditional practices, memory is not contained in the final product alone but lives in rhythm, in the repetition of movement, and in the knowledge passed down through body and time,” she explained. “Through remembering, whether by practice, storytelling or art, we preserve the spirit of heritage.”

Shaldan believes ��������’s growing art and design scene offers fertile ground for this preservation. 

“Art and research together form a bridge between emotion and knowledge,” she said. “In ��������, this union can preserve heritage not as a static memory, but as a living practice that engages with the present.”

For artist and designer Jana Malaikah, who presented “PalmScapes” at the residency, the palm tree represents both personal and cultural identity. “I grew up surrounded by palm trees in Al-Khobar, but it wasn’t until I left for my studies that I began to really notice them,” she said. “PalmScapes was my way of exploring that uniqueness while connecting it back to heritage, culture and the environment.”

Through photography, material experimentation and paper made from palm fibers, Malaikah reinterprets the palm as a symbol of resilience and memory. “Design, for me, is a form of storytelling,” she said. “Each process — from photographing to printing to making paper — brought me closer to understanding the tree and, in a way, myself.”

Her message to younger artists is simple: Slow down. “I hope PalmScapes encourages artists and designers to slow down, to observe, question and connect with what surrounds them,” she said. “There’s so much to learn from what’s already there — from materials and environments we often overlook.”

Malaikah’s philosophy aligns with the broader spirit of the residency; a call to look inward, to learn from what the land offers, and to transform awareness into art. “Every experiment, every trace, teaches something about place, material and self,” she said. “If PalmScapes inspires someone to see beauty in what feels ordinary, then it has achieved its purpose.”

As Al-Ahsa continues to emerge as a cultural hub under ��������’s Vision 2030, the revival of Al-Khoos weaving stands as a metaphor for the Kingdom’s own evolution — grounded in tradition, yet reaching toward innovation.