The Handicrafts and Crafts Exhibition continues to receive visitors until next Sunday
The 2024 Crafts and Handicrafts Exhibition witnessed a remarkable turnout from visitors interested in the Kingdom's diverse cultural heritage, as visitors from Saudis, Arabs and foreigners learned about the most prominent local products that represent the heritage of the Eastern Province and the most prominent textiles that reflect the comprehensive national identity. The exhibition, organized by the Asharqia Chamber represented by the Social Responsibility Center on the Dhahran Expo Company exhibition grounds, continues to receive visitors until Sunday, September 29, as it opens its doors from 4 pm to 10 pm, and exhibitors offer various products in the field of crafts, handicrafts, drawing and decoration, perfumes and incense, sweets, coffee, spices and drinks, fashion, clothing and women's accessories, and the pavilion of the Culture and Arts Association in Dammam offers artistic connections that reflect the artistic heritage of the Kingdom.
In a talk about passion, challenge and determination, the artist Mohammed Al-Qahtani said that his passion and hobby in drawing and interest in wood and its types led him to learn the craft of drawing using burning on wood and leather, noting that the beginnings were not that easy, adding that his determination forced him to learn different skills and interact with other experiences from his participation in many exhibitions, and thus he was able to transform this passion into an additional source of income. He also confirmed that this type of art attracts those interested in it, as many visitors to his pavilion prefer to hear from him closely about the mechanism of work, art and the user, indicating that he masters other arts such as wood carving, plastic art on carpets, and engraving on glass. In another corner of the exhibition, artist Benin Saeed presented the art of macramé knots, which is considered one of the arts of knitting without the use of needles.
All its stages are limited to manual knots made by hand and nothing else. Regarding this, artist Benin said that the art of knots is used in many household chores, in addition to its use in making fishing nets, noting that she has introduced it into the manufacture of hanging chairs and was able to make nets for hanging trees and bag bases, and many other products. Artist Benin explained that hobbies are many and there are many creative people, but the creative person and artist must have a message so that he can convey this hobby with its details to people who need such details to be able to make this art and creativity. Asharqia Chamber was keen to include this year's exhibition with different marketing pavilions prepared with an electronic marketing guide that includes a brief about the pavilion and means of communication with the pavilion owner to give him a long-term marketing opportunity and his connection with the consumer. The exhibition also included the participation of more than 300 pavilions, each pavilion includes a group of corners with similar specializations, in addition to pavilions for civil society organizations and development centers that embrace productive families and owners of crafts and handicrafts, and a special theatrical corner for the Culture and Arts Association through which hobbyists practice their hobbies in drawing, calligraphy, playing music and the violin, and live artistic performances. The exhibition is considered an initiative that cares about crafts and handicrafts from creators and those supervised by civil development associations in the Eastern Province, in addition to the Chamber's developmental role and achieving its goals by maximizing the impact of the community contribution of the business sector, and maximizing the performance of entrepreneurship and small and medium enterprises through craftsmen and handicraft owners and productive families, through awareness programs, workshops and providing qualitative initiatives to serve this development sector, and within the Chamber's plan aimed at continuing its efforts to make the owners of these crafts an effective number within the economies of the Kingdom in general and the Eastern Province in particular.
