Ramadan Season revives the Saudi identity through Hawiyah Hayah Nights

RIYADH: In conjunction with World Art Day on April 15, the Saudi Ministry of Culture and the Royal Institute of Traditional Arts organized the Hawiyah Hayah Nights event for the second time in Riyadh to introduce traditional crafts during Ramadan.
The event provides workshops and entertaining shows to explore surrounded by Ramadan decorations and a traditional atmosphere.
TRITA was established two years ago in Riyadh and began as a program by the ministry to combine culture and heritage, to invite people to discover some of Saudi Arabia’s more fascinating aspects.
The institute was later separated into an independent institute offering three programs to teach traditional Saudi artwork, crafts, and textiles to revive the identity of the Saudi heritage.
Hawiyah Hayah Nights was a product of the collaboration between the ministry and the institute, in partnership with the Theater and Performing Arts Commission.
“I wanted to check the Saudi identity, the Najd identity, and how they did everything regarding carpets, crafting, and everything related to the Saudi identity,” said Fouad Hassan, a visitor at the event.
Moreover, one of the programs offered by TRITA is the continuous learning program, where students are introduced to various forms of Art to preserve their identity.
Examples of activities done by the institute include performed arts and visual arts.
The event included a storytelling session with a narrator telling popular traditional tales, and a play illustrating a Saudi traditional game called alqaees. The play was a participation by the Theater and Performing Arts Commission at the event.
Nourah Alshuhail, a student at TRITA, who was also participating in the event, talked about her experience at the institute and what led her to join the event. “I joined the institute because I love arts. I am originally an artist, I draw,” she said.
“I registered for the embroidery program, in drawing by embroidery, in a two-week session. Then, it was very joyful for me. So, I continued learning with the institute since,” she added.
The event included multiple forms of Saudi Arabian traditional arts, including performed arts, embroidery, woodcraft, wicker crafts, Al-sadu, and Najdi maqtaa.
Al-sadu is a traditional woven textile used for tents that were known to be made by Bedouins in the past. The Nadji maqtaa is a traditional garment women used to wear in the central Najd region in Saudi Arabia.
The event also offered two types of metalwork workshops, metal accessories and metal coffee pots.
Aline Fleihab, a consultant by profession and a visitor to the event, said: “I frequently come to the diplomatic quarter, and today I knew about the event, so I came to check it out because I am interested in Saudi culture.”
“It’s very nice how they are engaging people and reviving the culture. It’s great,” she added.
The event started on April 11 and will last until April 15, open for visitors daily from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m., offering live shows, and held in the diplomatic quarter in Riyadh.