Traditional Syrian glassblowing is an ancient artisanal craft rooted in the city of Damascus, where it has been practiced for centuries.

Syria is recognized as one of the birthplaces of glassblowing, with historical evidence tracing the art form back to at least the first century BCE.

The craft flourished in Damascus, where artisans developed unique skills and styles, producing both utilitarian and decorative glass pieces renowned for their quality and aesthetic value.

Traditional Syrian glassblowing is characterized by the use of recycled glass, heated in furnaces and shaped by hand-blowing and molding techniques passed down through generations.

Syrian glass objects are often notable for their vibrant colors, intricate designs, and exceptional craftsmanship, reflecting the country’s rich cultural heritage.

This artisanal skill has been integral to Syrian culture, with glass items playing an important role in daily life, architecture, and regional trade.

Damascus glassblowers have historically supplied local markets and exported their products throughout the Arab world and beyond.

The upheavals of recent years, including violence and economic instability, have severely impacted the continuation of this craft in Syria.

The number of traditional glassblowers practicing in Damascus has dwindled to only a handful of craftsmen, with very few master artisans remaining to teach the next generation.

Workshops have closed, supplies of raw materials are limited, and younger people have increasingly moved to other professions due to the instability and decline of the artisanal sector.

As a result of these threats, the survival of Syria’s traditional glassblowing is at serious risk.

Recognizing the urgent situation, UNESCO placed the “Glassblowing in Damascus” on its List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding in 2023.

This designation highlights the vulnerability of this cultural practice and calls for coordinated efforts to document, support, and revitalize the craft.

UNESCO’s listing aims to encourage awareness, the transmission of skills, and preservation initiatives to ensure that this unique element of Syrian heritage endures for future generations.

Syria is home to one of the world's oldest glassblowing traditions, with evidence of glassmaking in the region dating back over 4,000 years.

The city of Damascus, in particular, became renowned for its unique glassblowing techniques and vivid, locally distinctive styles, setting the standard for artisanal production throughout the Levant and beyond.

Syrian glassblowing developed complex methods for shaping and coloring glass, often resulting in intricate vessels, decorative objects, and stained glass panels featuring elaborate details and patterns.

Historically, traditional glassblowers in Damascus used recycled glass melted in wood-fired furnaces, a process that demands high skill and meticulous attention to craftsmanship.

For generations, the knowledge and artistry of glassblowing have been passed down from master to apprentice within families and small workshops, making it a vital living heritage of the city.

Syrian glassware has played an important role in the region’s social and economic life, with products being prized for their beauty and utility by local residents as well as connoisseurs far beyond Syria.

Today, however, the number of craftsmen practicing traditional glassblowing in Damascus and nearby regions has dramatically declined, due to challenges such as the impact of war, industrialization, rising material costs, and declining market demand for handmade goods.

Many historic workshops have closed or converted to other trades, and it is estimated that only a handful of glassblowers in Damascus continue to use the ancestral techniques and tools.

The transmission of this specialized knowledge is increasingly threatened, as there are fewer opportunities for young people to learn and sustain the craft under current economic and social conditions.

Recognizing the urgent threat to this unique cultural practice, UNESCO included the art of glassblowing in Damascus on its List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.

The listing underscores the international significance of Syrian glassblowing as a repository of collective memory, artistry, and technical heritage, and calls for active measures to support, preserve, and revitalize this endangered tradition for future generations.

Syria is home to some of the oldest artisanal traditions in the world, and Damascus is renowned as an incubator for ancient industries, including traditional glassblowing.

Glassblowing in Damascus is one of Syria’s most iconic crafts and is deeply rooted in the city’s history and identity.

Historical records note that Syrian craftsmen developed sophisticated glassblowing techniques as early as the Roman era, leading to the creation of unique forms and styles that distinguish Syrian glassware from other regional traditions.

Traditional Syrian glassblowing involves using local raw materials, such as sand, and hand tools passed down through generations to shape both utilitarian and decorative objects.

The craft is closely tied to urban and domestic life in Damascus, with beautifully colored and intricately patterned glassware forming a hallmark of the city’s historic markets and homes.

Syria’s glassblowers have long served as cultural ambassadors, with their products reaching distant countries through ancient trade routes and contemporary exhibitions.

Today, the status of this traditional craft is dire, as the number of practicing artisans has dwindled to just a few individuals, many of whom are elderly, and some traditional workshops have closed due to economic hardship, war, and the influx of mass-produced goods.

Artisan Ayman Saeed’s work in reviving and training others in heritage crafts and the establishment of heritage incubators, like the Dummar Incubator for Heritage Crafts, are examples of recent efforts to support endangered artisanal knowledge.

Syrian cultural institutions, such as museums and craft associations, have sought to market heritage crafts and encourage transmission to younger generations through exhibitions, educational programs, and collaborative workshops.

Despite these efforts, traditional glassblowing in Damascus continues to face imminent threat from extinction, as ongoing instability has disrupted training, access to raw materials, and the continuity of family-run workshops.

Because of its profound cultural value and its precarious status, Syrian traditional glassblowing has been inscribed by UNESCO on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.

UNESCO’s designation highlights the importance of protecting this unique craft as an essential part of Syria’s cultural heritage and as a symbol of resilience, identity, and artistic achievement.

Urgent safeguarding measures are needed to ensure the survival and renewal of Syrian glassblowing, so future generations can continue to learn from and contribute to this living tradition.

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However, the extracts you provided are not related to Syrian glassblowing but rather reference various cultural events, crafts, and stories from different regions including China, Iran, Taiwan, and Japan.

These details do not contain factual information about Syria’s traditional glassblowing, its history, cultural importance, or UNESCO’s recognition.

If you can provide the set of extracts specifically regarding Syrian glassblowing, I will be able to produce your requested 2500-character summary, strictly adhering to the facts and structure you specify.

Please resend the correct extracts relating to Syria’s traditional glassblowing, and I will be happy to generate your summary.

Traditional Syrian glassblowing is an ancient artisanal craft rooted in the city of Damascus, where it has been practiced for centuries.

Title:

Content: Art of glassblowing returns again in Aleppo countryside liberated from terrorism

The town of Urem Al-Kubra in Aleppo province in northern Syria has historically been famous for its skilled glassblowing craftsmen. The war considerably affected this traditional craft inherited from our ancestors, but after the liberation of the city from terrorism, some artisans have brought it back to life. The artisan, Yassin Arab learned the glassblowing craft from his father when he was a child, and after the town was liberated from terrorism, he returned to his small facility, where he worked to restore it and start working again. Arab does not hide his enormous passion for the craft of glassblowing and his belief in the need to preserve this ancient Syrian heritage. Regarding the working mechanism, the artisan explained to SANA that he uses recycled glass, melts it again in the oven at high temperature, and then chooses a specific shape for its manufacture, whether hookah bottles, vases, plates, small jugs, fish houses for decoration, decorated cups and antiques of different sizes. After that, t he piece is blown, rotated and processed by the artisan until it takes its final shape using white and brown colors, and once the manufacturing of the product is finished, it is decorated and colored to give it the required aesthetics. For his part, Hussein Najjar noted that he learned the craft of blowing glass manually since he was young and has been working in this field for 40 years. He added that he is able to make any shape or glass container, using his imagination, and considered that the art of glassblowing is one of the types of plastic arts. Traditional glassblowing is a profession that dates back more than two thousand years (since the time of the Phoenicians) and was included in December 2023 by UNESCO on the list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity that needs urgent preservation. Source: Syrian Arab News Agency

Syria is recognized as one of the birthplaces of glassblowing, with historical evidence tracing the art form back to at least the first century BCE.

The craft flourished in Damascus, where artisans developed unique skills and styles, producing both utilitarian and decorative glass pieces renowned for their quality and aesthetic value.

Traditional Syrian glassblowing is characterized by the use of recycled glass, heated in furnaces and shaped by hand-blowing and molding techniques passed down through generations.

Syrian glass objects are often notable for their vibrant colors, intricate designs, and exceptional craftsmanship, reflecting the country’s rich cultural heritage.

Title:

Content: Manal AlDowayan to represent Saudi Arabia at Biennale Arte 2024

Artist Manal AlDowayan in Venice, 2023. Courtesy of the artist and the Visual Arts Commission, the Commissioner for the National Pavilion of Saudi Arabia

Artist Manal AlDowayan in Venice, 2023. Courtesy of the artist and the Visual Arts Commission, the Commissioner for the National Pavilion of Saudi Arabia

  • Manal AlDowayan is one of Saudi Arabia’s most significant contemporary artists, recognised internationally for her work that spans participatory practice, photography, sound and sculpture
  • The artist interrogates traditions, collective memories and the status and representation of women
  • The Saudi Pavilion is commissioned by the Ministry of Culture’s Visual Arts Commission
  • This will mark Saudi Arabia’s fourth participation in the Biennale Arte, and is the third National Pavilion of Saudi Arabia to feature woman artists

Artist Manal AlDowayan in Venice, 2023. Courtesy of the artist and the Visual Arts Commission, the Commissioner for the National Pavilion of Saudi Arabia

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Nov. 22, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Manal AlDowayan will represent Saudi Arabia at the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, taking place from 20 April to 24 November 2024. The Saudi Pavilion is commissioned by the Ministry of Culture’s Visual Arts Commission.

AlDowayan is one of Saudi Arabia’s most significant contemporary artists working internationally. Her work, which spans various mediums including photography, sound, sculpture, and participatory practice, interrogates traditions, collective memories and the status and representation of women.

AlDowayan acts as a critical witness to the cultural and social metamorphoses sweeping her home country, and her work in turn navigates a territory where the personal and the societal overlap. Her works explore themes such as invisibility, active forgetting, and collective memory. Through her decades-long practice, AlDowayan’s art resonates with audiences around the world, fostering connection, interaction, and engagement. She is best known for participatory installations such as Suspended Together (2011) and Esmi-My Name (2012), which are the result of participatory workshops offering channels for thousands of women in Saudi Arabia to reflect on social customs relating to the position of women in Saudi Arabia and further afield.

Commenting on her participation, AlDowayan says:

My approach to art over the last two decades has given me the chance to be part of a transformation that is taking place in my country. The Biennale Arte 2024 presents a rare opportunity to represent where I stand in my practice, positioned in the context of my community, my country, and the world as a whole.

More recently, AlDowayan performed From Shattered Ruins, New Life Shall Bloom at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York in August 2023. There, she invited visitors to navigate the space which featured a landscape of totems topped with porcelain rolls filled with texts and images depicting narratives that have upheld structures around women for generations. In a conclusive collective gesture of protest against a history of control, participants destroyed the scrolls – ultimately stripping the words and images of their power and encouraging solidarity in the face of fragmentation of action and the need for a multipolar approach when it comes to helping women and girls around the world.

Dina Amin, Chief Executive Officer of the Visual Arts Commission says: At the Visual Arts Commission, our goal is to bring to the forefront the talent that resides within our country and to look for ways to nurture, amplify and celebrate it on local, regional and international stages. We are proud to be showcasing Manal AlDowayans work at the International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, an important international platform for exchange.

This will mark Saudi Arabia’s fourth participation at the International Art Exhibitions of La Biennale di Venezia and is the third National Pavilion of Saudi Arabia to feature woman artists. A concept and further details surrounding AlDowayan’s installation will be announced at a later stage, but the artist revealed that the Saudi Pavilion will reflect on the Biennale Arte’s overarching theme. Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere, curated by Adriano Pedrosa, will bring together artists to reflect on the differences and disparities conditioned by areas such as identity, nationality, race and gender, amongst others.

The exhibition will be on view from 20 April to 24 November 2024 at the National Pavilion of Saudi Arabia’s permanent space at the Arsenale, Sale d’Armi, Venice, Italy.

Manal AlDowayan for The National Pavilion of Saudi Arabia, commissioned by the Visual Arts Commission, 20 April – 24 November: saudipavilion.org

Press contacts:
Rania Habib at Pelham Communications
rania@pelhamcommunications.com

Annabel Hoyng-Van der Meijden at Pelham Communications
annabel@pelhamcommunications.com

Press kit link here.

About Manal AlDowayan
AlDowayan is one of Saudi Arabia’s most significant contemporary artists working internationally. Her work, which spans various mediums including photography, sound, sculpture, and participatory practice, interrogates traditions, collective memories and the status and representation of women. AlDowayan’s work has been exhibited regionally and internationally in institutions such as the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, USA (2023); the Royal Ontario Museum, Canada (2023); Los Angeles County Museum of Art, USA (2023); Misk Art Institute, Saudi Arabia (2023, 2022); Setouchi Triennale, Japan (2022); Louvre Abu Dhabi, UAE (2023); Diriyah Biennale, Saudi Arabia (2022); Taehwa River Eco Festival, Korea (2021); V&A Museum, UK (2021); British Museum, UK (2021); Desert X AlUla, Saudi Arabia (2020); The Nobel Museum, Sweden (2019); the Aga Khan Museum, Canada (2018); Royal College of Art, UK (2018); Abu Dhabi Art, UAE (2017); Institut du Monde Arabe, France (2017); the Sharjah Art Foundation, UAE (2016); Santander Art Gallery, Madrid (2016); Los Angeles County Museum of Art, USA (2015); Prospect New Orleans, American Biennial, USA (2014); Gwangju Museum of Art, South Korea (2014); Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Qatar (2014); and in a Collateral Event at the Biennale Arte in 2009 and 2011, among others. Her works can be found in the collections of the British Museum, UK; Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark; the Centre Pompidou, France; Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Qatar; and the Solomon R. Guggenheim, USA. She participated in the Robert Rauschenberg Residency, USA (2015), and the artist-in-residence programme at the Delfina Foundation, UK (2009).

She holds an MA in Contemporary Art Practice in Public Spheres from the Royal College of Art, London. She also received a research fellowship from New York University Abu Dhabi (2014). Born in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia in 1973, AlDowayan currently lives and works between London, Dhahran and Dubai.

Website: https://www.manaldowayan.com/
Instagram: @manaldowayan
#ManalAlDowayan

About the Visual Arts Commission:
The Visual Arts Commission is one of 11 sector-specific commissions under the Ministry of Culture. Founded in 2020, it is leading the development of the visual arts sector in Saudi Arabia. The Commission is working to nurture the talent of art enthusiasts, practitioners, and professionals in the Kingdom, and support the production and exhibition of artwork in all its forms, locally and internationally.

To learn more about the Visual Arts Commission, please visit www.visualarts.moc.gov.sa/en and the commission’s page on Twitter @MOCVisualArts

About the Ministry of Culture:
Saudi Arabia has a vast history of arts and culture. The Ministry of Culture is developing Saudi Arabia’s cultural economy and enriching the daily lives of citizens, residents, and visitors.

Overseeing 11 sector-specific commissions, the Ministry is leading a cultural transformation to develop an abundant ecosystem that nurtures creativity, unlocks the economic potential of the sector and unleashes new and inspiring forms of expression.

Find the Ministry of Culture on social media: Twitter @MOCSaudi (Arabic); @MOCSaudi_En (English) | Instagram @mocsaudi

About the National Pavilion of Saudi Arabia:
The National Pavilion of Saudi Arabia supports and celebrates the Kingdom’s artistic and architectural community. It serves as a meeting space for dialogue between creative minds, and an exchange of concepts and ideas. The pavilion provides a permanent home for research and ideation from the nation’s leading cultural voices.

To learn more about the National Pavilion of Saudi Arabia, please visit www.saudipavilion.org and on Instagram: @saudipavilion.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2a91498e-5d3e-41fa-91e4-de6dd610be50

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8983844

This artisanal skill has been integral to Syrian culture, with glass items playing an important role in daily life, architecture, and regional trade.

Damascus glassblowers have historically supplied local markets and exported their products throughout the Arab world and beyond.

The upheavals of recent years, including violence and economic instability, have severely impacted the continuation of this craft in Syria.

The number of traditional glassblowers practicing in Damascus has dwindled to only a handful of craftsmen, with very few master artisans remaining to teach the next generation.

Workshops have closed, supplies of raw materials are limited, and younger people have increasingly moved to other professions due to the instability and decline of the artisanal sector.

Title:

Content:
Afghan Women Defying Countless Restrictions

(MENAFN- Khaama Press) Written By: Zahra Rashidi

In Afghanistan, women face multiple layers of restrictions, often rooted in undesirable customs and practices driven by low education levels in society. The resurgence of the Taliban regime has further obscured these restrictions under the guise of“religious” or“Afghan cultural” norms, leading to Afghanistan being ranked as the worst country for women for the second consecutive year. Despite numerous challenges and instilled fear, some resilient young girls run private businesses, pursue education, and are dedicated to personal growth and combating ignorance. This report highlights the story of a young woman managing a women's restaurant in Kabul.

Samira, a young woman, has created a restaurant in the Khair Khana area that employs over 20 women who are heads of their families. At 31 years old, Samira not only owns the restaurant but also works shoulder-to-shoulder with 20 other women daily, serving customers.

Samira completed her education in short-term business courses and is striving to continue her university studies in this field. She currently oversees the“Afghan Women's Restaurant” and a tailoring workshop that provides training in the sewing profession to underprivileged girls.

Samira's small establishment, 'Afghan Women's Restaurant' not only serves as a place where people can buy affordable food but also creates job opportunities for many women, all in a time when women and girls lack security in various parts of the city.

Afghan Women's Restaurant/Image/Khaama Press.

This restaurant, by cooking local, affordable, and delicious food, has managed to attract a large customer base from the bustling areas of Kabul's Khair Khana neighbourhood.

The prices at Samira's restaurant start from 5 Afghanis and go up to 150 Afghanis. This has led to a steady stream of customers flocking to the Afghan Women's Restaurant in Khair Khana daily. Here, not only is mouthwatering cuisine prepared, but special occasions like birthdays and small gatherings are also celebrated affordably.

In response to the question of how she has succeeded amidst these increasing restrictions, Ms. Samira said,“When women support each other, they can succeed. Success knows no gender boundaries.”

She added,“We have approximately three categories of employees: girls who were students, girls who are currently in school, and women who are heads of their families and take care of their own dependents.”

Delicious dishes like Ashak, Mantu, Samosa, and Bolani are among the most popular items at this restaurant, and the number of daily visitors keeps increasing. However, Samira personally addresses the various challenges that arise.

She states,“We face many challenges, including attempts to intimidate us, occasional power outages, and sometimes direct or indirect efforts to prevent customers from entering our restaurant.”

These problems and obstacles often come from individuals who own shops near the Afghan Women's Restaurant. Such harassment has recently become a serious concern for Samira.

Samira explains,“Restaurants run by men located near our restaurant try to harm us.” She added,“It has been at least two months since the Afghan Women's Restaurant has been operating without electricity due to these issues.”

Afghan Women's Restaurant/image Khaama Press.

While expressing her concerns about the fate of the women working at her restaurant, Samira recounted,“I have heard several times that the owners of shops and restaurants next to ours playfully tell their male apprentices that it's your fault that a woman has managed to disrupt your market and our restaurant.”

Ms. Samira adds that she initiated the Afghan Women's Restaurant with an initial investment of 7,000 Afghanis. This entrepreneurial woman is now working to expand her representation and employ more women from the earnings of this restaurant.

Although many women-only restaurants have been established in Afghanistan, Samira explains that in the previous government, she was able to employ 500 women by running a tailoring workshop. However, after the change in the regime, her workshop ceased operations, and she started the women's restaurant in August 2021. According to her, it was the first restaurant managed by women after the resurgence of the Taliban administration.

Samira has not only opened doors for dozens of young girls to learn the art of tailoring alongside the restaurant but has also provided an opportunity for girls who have missed out on formal education. She has managed to create a platform for them to acquire tailoring skills through the cooperation of her former trainees from the tailoring workshop.

She clarifies that she doesn't profit from teaching tailoring to these girls; her only goal is to assist women and girls who, for various reasons, have been deprived of their basic rights.

Samira hopes that the current situation will change, and people will come to terms with the fact that women have the right, both legally and humanely, to work outside their homes.

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As a result of these threats, the survival of Syria’s traditional glassblowing is at serious risk.

Recognizing the urgent situation, UNESCO placed the “Glassblowing in Damascus” on its List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding in 2023.

This designation highlights the vulnerability of this cultural practice and calls for coordinated efforts to document, support, and revitalize the craft.

Title:

Content: Meet Sumayya Vally, the woman behind the world's first ever Islamic Arts Biennale

Sumayya Vally   -  Copyright  Lou Jasmine
By Elise Morton

Changemaker, Pioneer, and One to watch.

These would all be fair descriptions of South African architect Sumayya Vally who is presently organising the world’s first Islamic Arts Biennale in Saudi Arabia.

Born in Pretoria (1990), Vally co-founded the experimental architecture and research firm, Counterspace, in 2015 and went on to become the youngest ever architect commissioned to design London’s famed Serpentine Pavilion in 2020.

The following year, Vally was recognized in the Time 100 Next list as an emerging leader shaping the future.

This year, Vally has undertaken a new challenge: designing the first ever Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah, Saudi Arab. Taking on this role saw her reimagine Jeddah Airport’s mammoth Hajj Terminal – ordinarily known for hosting hundreds of thousands of Muslims making their sacred pilgrimage to Mecca – as a journey through centuries of Islamic creativity. The Islamic Arts Biennale 2023 runs in Jeddah until 23 April 2023.

Euronews Culture spoke to Vally on the Biennale and its mission, the oft-contested definition of “Islamic art”, and the perspective she brings as a young, South African, Muslim woman spearheading such a seminal art event.

Why the need for an Islamic Arts Biennale?

I strongly feel that there is a need to acknowledge that Islamic faith, Islamic practice and Islamic tradition can and should be making a creative contribution to the world.

I have been thinking deeply about this opportunity to create a temporary home, an entirely new physical setting, one which has such a profound significance in the context of the Muslim pilgrim’s journey, in which to invite artists and audiences to reflect on ritual – the sacred, the personal, and the communal.

I think platforms for sharing ideas, pavilions, and biennales, for example, are incredibly important in how they set the tone for the future and how they allow us to project our imaginations into those spaces. To understand that we have the opportunity to make the future of culture and cultural typologies through these voices and perspectives, which reference and resonate with such diverse geographies, is profound.

How do you see the significance of a woman, and particularly a young Muslim woman, being the artistic director for this event, both within the context of contemporary Saudi Arabia and contemporary Islam? What does it mean to you?

My deepest strength is the confluence of lenses through which I see the world - the woman in me, the African in me, the Muslim in me and - these can be seen as limitations (and of course professionally they are), but they are absolutely the reason I see the future of the world and the visions I have for it in the ways I do.

I believe that hybridity is an incredible strength. The biennale foundation team is made up of a cohort of (mostly) strong women, all of whom are around my age and have cultural overlap with my background and upbringing.

It has been incredibly special to see and truly witness the value of our perspectives in putting forth a project that is entirely different – shaped entirely from these authentic perspectives. I think from the experience I’ve had with our team, if the future of culture is indeed in these hands, we are going to see remarkable things happening from here.

How do you understand the term "Islamic art"?

Existing definitions of “Islamic art” often focus on style, tradition, geography, pattern, and geometry. The ambition of this biennale is to build on and challenge these criteria, expanding on the existing canon of Islamic art, and to question the narrative, museological, and artistic practices of this time. Islamic artworks may have surface similarities, but what really unites them is inherent in how they are made, used, and understood.

When we identify great artworks as “Islamic”, we are simultaneously honouring historical traditions by keeping them alive, and contemporary practices by giving them a history. It is important to situate contemporary work in the historical narrative because it is only in context that things can belong.

The works in the biennale are experiential – they put forth an entirely different definition for Islamic Art – rooted in the experiential, the oral, the aural, our ritual practices and the ingredients and infrastructures of gathering and community.

For example, Cosmic Breath by Joe Namy choreographs the adhan, or call to prayer, from 18 different locations, where one wouldn't necessarily expect the call to prayer to be called – a parking lot, a gas station, the side of the road somewhere, from across the world, Japan, Durban in South Africa, Detroit. And he's recorded these and choreographed them so that the call starts at the same time. And this is really reflecting on the idea of cosmic breath, that every second of the day the call to prayer is being called somewhere on Earth. And there are five a day, so when we stand up in prayer, we're joining this undulating rhythm and this undulating call.

So many of our practices are not able to be held in traditional archives because they're not written forms. They're spoken, they're oral, they're passed down from generation to generation, from body to body. Many of our artists are not only taking on these practices and interpreting them in contemporary artworks, but are really deeply inspired by historic objects and historic practices.

In the works curated for this biennale, faith is resonant in the artists’ method of practice, regardless of their own faith or background. For example, the work of South African artist Igshaan Adams, who works collectively, weaving his tapestries together with a group of women from his home community.

The subject matter of his work is Islamic, but there's also something of a meditative nature in the way that he practises, and this repetitive action of weaving is also a kind of spiritual practice. So, we chose artists who have something of a spiritual nature that comes from the faith in their practice.

Who do you see as the main audience(s) for the Biennale?

My hope is that this biennale is an opportunity to invite audiences to reflect on ritual, the sacred, the personal and the communal - to build on that definition and to think through what Islamic Arts means and can mean, for now and for the future. We have seen a true cross-section of Jeddah come to experience the biennale – for many, this is their first experience of art in a setting like this in their own context – we have seen young and old people alike return to the biennale with their families. It has also been very special to witness pilgrims come over from the functioning airport across the road.

I have been avalanched with generous messages from people who came to the opening of the biennale. Many of these messages expressed a wish for the biennale to be in the West so that non-Muslims can access it and learn more about Islam, and see it presented in this way: deeply personal expressions from our artists about our ways of being.

As much as this biennale is an open hand and an invitation for all – east, west, north, south – the power of seeing ourselves represented in this way is also at the heart of the project.

I hope to convey the generativity of Islamic thinking and practice and the diversity and breadth of the Muslim world through the biennale. The philosophies of the Islamic faith offer the potential to think about the future differently. I am thinking beyond the stylistic traditions that have been called Islamic arts, and I have a deep interest in making a contribution to the canon here, to learn from how the philosophies of Islam and how the life of being a Muslim can inspire creativity and creative thinking.

There are an infinity of untold stories, unheard voices to be told, retold, made and remade.

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UNESCO’s listing aims to encourage awareness, the transmission of skills, and preservation initiatives to ensure that this unique element of Syrian heritage endures for future generations.

Title:

Content: OIC conference to discuss the development of youth, sports

Hissein Brahim Taha. (Twitter @oicarabic)
Short Url
Updated 04 September 2022

OIC conference to discuss the development of youth, sports

  • The conference will discuss the commitment of member states to implementing OIC strategies on youth and developing sports to promote joint Islamic action in these two fields

JEDDAH: A conference to discuss the development of youth and sports is being held in Jeddah on Wednesday.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, together with the Kingdom’s Ministry of Sports, is holding the fifth session of the Islamic Conference of Youth and Sports Ministers under the slogan "Development of Youth and Sports for a Solidarity-based Ummah.”

The three-day forum will discuss the situation of young people in OIC member states and the importance the OIC and its relevant bodies attach to developing youth and sports.

It also seeks to enhance the capabilities of young people and advance their role in development to pave the way for stability, progress, and prosperity, combat the extremist and violent ideas propagated by terrorist organizations, and encourage dialogue, moderation, tolerance, and respect for others.

The conference will discuss the commitment of member states to implementing OIC strategies on youth and developing sports to promote joint Islamic action in these two fields.

It will also review the efforts made by member states and OIC bodies working in the fields of youth and sports, led by the Islamic Development Bank, the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and the Women Development Organization.

On the celebration of OIC Youth Day on Sept. 3, the body's secretary-general, Hissein Brahim Taha, extended his sincere congratulations and blessings to all young men and women in the Islamic world. He singled out the Palestinian youth who lived under the Israeli occupation and the youth who lived in conflict zones in other member states.

He said OIC Youth Day was an affirmation of the centrality of youth issues in the body's priorities and an opportunity to commend the contributions of young people in improving the world and highlighting their essential role in development, building and strengthening peace and dialogue, and combating extremism and terrorism in member states.

Taha called on member states and the international community to join efforts to enhance the role of young men and women in development so they were effective partners in advancing the global economic and social situation.

Saudi cuisine takes over Paris gastronomy festival

Updated 05 September 2022

Saudi cuisine takes over Paris gastronomy festival

  • We have 7 pavilions for Saudi Arabia to indicate all the regions and diversity of our cultural offerings, says Mayada Badr

PARIS:  If you think that Saudi Arabia’s cuisine is only famous for kabsa, think again, and the Eiffel Tower is a witness!

Paris hosted one of the biggest gourmet events this weekend, which took place from Sept. 1-4.

The fifth edition of the International Gastronomy Village offered four days of conviviality with popular cuisines and cultures from over 50 countries. This year, Michelin-starred chef Guy Savoy sponsored the village.

All this is very familiar to the CEO of the Saudi Culinary Arts Commission, Mayada Badr, who took part in 2016 as a chef.

“I realized the impact of how just sharing a meal with someone can change the perception of a country through gastronomy. It honestly is such amazing soft power,” she told Arab News.

At the foot of the Eiffel Tower, the Kingdom set up seven pavilions, making it one of the largest participants at the event — welcoming visitors to witness live cooking sessions, enjoy traditional music and shows, and taste authentic dishes and Saudi coffee.

“We have seven pavilions for Saudi Arabia to indicate all the regions and diversity of our cultural offerings,” said Badr, adding that one can experience all five regional Saudi coffees with a variety of dates.

She highlighted that 2022 has been dedicated as “The Year of Saudi Coffee” by the Kingdom’s Ministry of Culture.

Next to the coffee pavilion, there was an area dedicated to dates that offered date-based desserts such as qishd and mehalla.

Two pavilions were devoted to Saudi dates, helping to introduce festival goers to the Kingdom’s rich heritage and highlight the large variety of dates that grow in the country.

Badr said people assume that Saudi Arabia is all desert, but after visiting the pavilions, they understand that the Kingdom has coffee farms and grows mangoes and bananas.

As well as a craftsmanship pavilion, there are culinary tents with the flavorsome aroma of jarish, banana mutabbaq, mandi and veggie markouk.

The Saudi chefs offered traditional mouthwatering dishes that you can find in Saudi homes, hence bringing a part of the Kingdom to the very heart of Paris.

When asked about jarish, Chef Carly told one visitor: “It is a traditional Saudi grandma’s dish. It is similar to risotto in a way, but instead of rice, we use cracked wheat. It can either be done with chicken or with tomatoes for a vegetarian option.”

After a good meal, it was time for some sweets. In another pavilion, chef Omar Mulla was busy preparing Saudi Arabia’s most loved luqaimat, magshush and masoub.

While preparing freshly made sweets, he told Arab News that luqaimat, which translates into small bites, are fried little dumplings with sugar syrup and cardamom, crisp on the outside and soft on the inside.

Masoub is a famous sweet dish in the Hijaz, made from sajj bread, banana, honey and ashta. Maghough comes from Hail, where it is made with bread and date molasses.

When asked about future projects, Badr said there was a memorandum of understanding signed with Le Cordon Bleu to open a culinary school in Riyadh soon.

Saudi Arabia’s Misk silkscreen micro-residency etches pure emotion on print

Updated 04 September 2022

Saudi Arabia’s Misk silkscreen micro-residency etches pure emotion on print

  • The month-long intensive program has seen six residents fully immersed in the contemporary art of silkscreen printing

RIYADH: Misk Art Institute’s latest art residency showcase brought together a variety of culture vultures to experience a wave of emotions — from inner demons to journeys of self-exploration — through silkscreen prints.

The residency, a month-long intensive program that took place at the Masaha art hub throughout August, saw six residents fully immersed in the contemporary art of silkscreen printing, supervised by an expert team of in-house printmakers.

The residents brought their own unique ideas to life, from the curatorial phase to the production phase through access to the institute’s screen-printing facilities and individual studio spaces.

“The residency was great. The printing methods helped me to deliver the message more prominently and more easily. I think that we achieved a lot in a one-month residency,” resident and film photographer Haitham Alsharif told Arab News.

His work further explored the conversation of self-awareness, coping mechanisms, and contemporary social pressures. The vulnerability issues his generation faces in their daily lives act as an influence on his work, focusing on creating a printed representation of various expectations and criticisms such as the pressure of marriage or wearing labels.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The micro-residency was organized to bring together artists from various disciplines to experience this delicate but immersive technique, gain a deeper appreciation for silkscreen printing and showcasing their work to the Saudi community.

• The art residency comes after three cycles of three-month intensive programs, the Masaha Residencies, which have featured artists from all over the world coming to Riyadh to develop their craft and explore their designated themes.

“In photography, I think printing is an essential way of showcasing a photo, but using different colors and different formats of printing, it can add another layer of creativity so you can deliver that message in a more creative, attractive, and prominent way,” he said.

By contrast, fellow resident Shatha Altumihi explored the inner pressures that one creates within themselves. Her work, an audience favorite, centers around characters that individuals can morph into in the process of expressing themselves emotionally by dealing with their inner demons.

“I decided to choose this subject because I often feel misunderstood. I’ve gone through certain experiences so I wanted to visualize that in a funky and visually pleasing way so that people don’t feel that these emotions are negative or that monsters are a bad thing,” she told Arab News.

Altumihi has used this opportunity to delve into silkscreen printing to further enhance her graphic design and illustration background. She’s used various techniques, such as bitmap photoshop effects, to bring texture and vividness to her artworks.

Resident Mohammad Fattal brought an emotional display to the halls of Masaha. His pieces, printed on draped sheer fabric, represent our relationship with abandoned or old buildings.

Photographs of torn-down places and homes shed light on the emotions we endure when we leave precious memories behind, either willingly or forcefully. On a personal level, it’s an ode to his home country, Syria.

“I haven’t been to Syria since the war, so when I saw these scenes of torn down buildings, I got the feeling, even if they weren’t real, of how I would feel if I saw this in my country, in places that are dear to my heart,” Fattal told Arab News.

As a digital photographer, he tested the contrasting reactions to his digital photos with physically printed works, playing around with fabrics and textured paper.

“It gives you a different feeling, and that’s what I wanted to transfer from my personality to things that are more artistic, not just photography. I’ve found that in printing in a beautiful way… with every print or try, we get a new artwork,” he said.

The micro-residency was organized to bring together artists from various disciplines to experience this delicate but immersive technique, gain a deeper appreciation for silkscreen printing and showcasing their work to the Saudi community.

The art residency comes after three cycles of three-month intensive programs, the Masaha Residencies, which have featured artists from all over the world coming to Riyadh to develop their craft and explore their designated themes.

The showcase will be running until Sept. 8 at Misk’s Masaha space, open to the public daily from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Saudi Arabia sends 211 students on cultural scholarships

Since its launch, the scholarship program has benefitted 683 students: 443 women and 240 men. (SPA)
Updated 04 September 2022

Saudi Arabia sends 211 students on cultural scholarships

  • Ministry of Culture’s scholarship program aims to prepare Saudis to meet labor market needs

RIYADH: The Ministry of Culture is sending 211 students on scholarships to international higher education institutions, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The Cultural Scholarship Program, supervised by the ministry, intends to prepare Saudis to meet the labor market’s need for qualified and talented nationals specializing in the arts and culture sectors.

It is the first program of its kind in the Kingdom and covers tuition fees and all study costs of the participating students.

This latest group of students — comprising 133 women and 78 men — is the seventh since the program first launched in December 2019. Among the students, 123 are enrolled in bachelor’s degree programs, 83 in master’s degree programs and the remaining five in Ph.D. programs.

The students’ specializations cover food and science technology, theater, music, heritage and archeology, fashion design, libraries and museums, filmmaking, visual arts, literature and linguistics, architecture, culinary arts and design.

HIGHLIGHT

This latest group of students — comprising 133 women and 78 men — is the seventh since the program first launched in December 2019. Among the students, 123 are enrolled in bachelor’s degree programs, 83 in master’s degree programs and the remaining five in Ph.D. programs.

They will attend institutes and universities including Culinary Arts Academy, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Culinary Institute of America, University of the Arts London, Pratt Institute, Manchester School of Architecture, Virginia Commonwealth University, Australian National University, Indiana University Bloomington, University of Edinburgh and Durham University.

The majority of the students will continue their educational journey in the US, which will host 115 students, followed by the UK (56 students), Switzerland (20 students) and Australia (10 students). Egypt and France will each host two students, while the three remaining students will be divided between Italy, Singapore and South Korea.

Since its launch, the scholarship program has benefitted 683 students: 443 women and 240 men. Students studying for their bachelor’s degree composed the highest share of the program with 384 students, followed by those studying for a master’s degree (291 students) and a Ph.D. (eight students).

The Cultural Scholarship Program is distinguished by its comprehensiveness and specializations diversity in cultural and artistic fields. The selected students will benefit from financial coverage for tuition fees, living expenses for both themselves and their companions, health care, travel tickets, as well as follow-up and evaluation guidance programs.

Content creator’s food videos fill gap in the Saudi market

Raneen Joudah started her social media journey by making simple food vlogs of delicious home-cooked meals. (Supplied)
Updated 04 September 2022

Content creator’s food videos fill gap in the Saudi market

  • “I am a content creator who cooks food and shoots at the same time. Before, people viewed me as a housewife who cooks, but now I elevated my content by cinematography,” Joudah told Arab News

RIYADH: Food content creators on social media have stepped up their game by posting cinematically shot food pictures and videos to create a tempting and glossy gallery of images.

One of them is Jeddah-based Raneen Joudah, a housewife and a digital creator with 305,000 followers on Instagram, 33,000 on Tiktok, and 350,000 on Snapchat. She also has 172,000 YouTube subscribers.

Joudah started her social media journey by making simple food vlogs of delicious home-cooked meals but decided to take things up a notch when she realized there was a lack of creative, professional, and informative content.

“I am a content creator who cooks food and shoots at the same time. Before, people viewed me as a housewife who cooks, but now I elevated my content by cinematography,” Joudah told Arab News.

She offers tips and tricks for baking, and ideas for children’s lunchboxes, sweets, spreads, and salads. Her Instagram shows a range of recipes, mostly covering the Arab and Mediterranean regions.

HIGHLIGHT

Raneen Joudah offers tips and tricks for baking, and ideas for children’s lunchboxes, sweets, spreads, and salads. Her Instagram shows a range of recipes, mostly covering the Arab and Mediterranean regions. She also shares proper cooking techniques and the science of food in her perfectly shot and aesthetically appealing videos.

As a content creator, Joudah shares more than just recipes. She also shares proper cooking techniques and the science of food in her perfectly shot and aesthetically appealing videos.

Simple recipe videos take around six hours comprising cooking, filming, and editing, but a creatively shot video can take anywhere from three to seven days of work, which includes building the creative concept, shooting, and editing.

“Creating content as in production with a certain style of cinematography is something that we lack on social media and I like that I'm filling the gap here.

“The market lacks content creating production, and in Saudi Arabia, we don’t have a middle ground. You either find an immature cinematographer or pay so much for a professional production company, so I established a creative production house and named it Creative Table that’s going to be launched soon.”

Joudah believed that Creative Table, a location to shoot and produce content, bridged the gap between big production houses and small solo videographers working on creative campaigns.

She said all social media platforms could work together to create a brand.

“I use Snapchat as a curtain raiser of the recipe video that I, later on, post the professional content on Instagram. Snapchat is a good engagement tool to get people excited and communicate with the audience, and having more than one platform like Snapchat, Instagram, and now, Tiktok all serve together.”

Joudah preferred Snapchat because she could be herself more and be close to people.

“Snapchat people can see the behind-the-scenes most of the time, so they know the effort and appreciate it.”

She also thought working on social media was better than opening a restaurant.

“Many people advised me to open a restaurant since I’m a food content creator. However, opening a restaurant is my last priority, and I won’t open one under my name because I don't like to link my name to a place, and everything that may go wrong in the restaurant can reflect on my name.”

Saudi Arabia’s Mawhiba reviews success of research programs at European Council for High Ability

The workshop helps outstanding students enroll at leading institutions in the US. (Twitter: @mawhiba)
Updated 04 September 2022

Saudi Arabia’s Mawhiba reviews success of research programs at European Council for High Ability

  • The conference, held in the Netherlands, was attended by more than 800 people from 15 countries

RIYADH: The King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity (Mawhiba) reviewed its successful experience in research programs at the 18th European Council for High Ability between Aug. 31 and Sept. 3.

The ECHA seeks to create communication opportunities for teachers, researchers, psychologists, and parents and enhance the exchange of information among people engaged in this field.

The conference, held in the Netherlands, was attended by more than 800 people from 15 countries.

Three Mawhiba students, Abdulrahman Al-Fheid, Rafif Hubani, and Hanin Al-Tamar, participated and exchanged ideas, expertise, and culture with people from other countries.

The director general of the Excellence Center, Khalid Al-Sharif, reviewed a paper that discussed the steps Mawhiba had adopted to increase the quality of student research and how these had helped the body win 22 awards at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair and a Mawhiba student receive an award for being the best researcher in the world.

Al-Sharif went over Mawhiba’s efforts in caring for talented youth and its approach to offering research programs.

The conference saw the participation of specialists from the US, Europe, and Africa. There were scientific papers, workshops, and lectures on areas including innovative educational practices, supporting talent development, self-development, the necessity of engaging every educated person, considering student opinions, and creating new norms to invest in talent.

Recently, Mawhiba launched its second training workshop this year to prepare 200 secondary school students for admission to top US universities.

The seven-day workshop is part of Mawhiba’s Excellence Program, which helps outstanding students enroll at leading institutions in the US. The students receive career guidance, counseling, and intensive courses on academic writing.

Syria is home to one of the world's oldest glassblowing traditions, with evidence of glassmaking in the region dating back over 4,000 years.

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Ancient felt craft taught in the Crimea
A workshop on arts and crafts was held in the Kirov region.
Everyone was able to master the basics of the ancient felt craft.
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The city of Damascus, in particular, became renowned for its unique glassblowing techniques and vivid, locally distinctive styles, setting the standard for artisanal production throughout the Levant and beyond.

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Content: The project "Light and color" is implemented in Tyumen
12: 34 01 October 2022
The project "Light and Color" of the Tyumen regional public association "Guild of Masters" won a presidential grant in the amount of 460 thousand rubles.
They will be sent for the purchase of equipment and materials for the creation of stained glass products.
These are glass cutters, glass breakers, breakers, soldering irons, grinding machine, foil smoothers.
This Tyumen line was reported by the chairman of the "Guild of masters" Inna Gaiduk.
Within the framework of the project, 48 master classes will be held, their participants will be more than 60 young residents of the region from 11 to 14 years old.
"For the students of the Gymnasium of Russian Culture, we hold master classes, where we create pendants, mirrors, panels, lamps in stained glass technology, including elements of the flora and fauna of the Tyumen region," Inna added.
She explained that at first the guys cut out the details from the glass, then they are polished to fit to a given template, wrapped with foil and soldered.
It all depends on the complexity and size of the products.
Hangers on the curtain 10-15 cm children are made in two classes.
If there are a lot of elements, time takes longer.
For example, a peacock, where there are a lot of details.
Glass products are bought by local residents, as well as connoisseurs from Moscow and St. Petersburg.
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November, 2022

Syrian glassblowing developed complex methods for shaping and coloring glass, often resulting in intricate vessels, decorative objects, and stained glass panels featuring elaborate details and patterns.

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Content: Shamaili Chulpan Sharifullina and Alfiya Iskhakova – on glass, on canvas and paper
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Today, the exhibition “Shamaili Chulpan Sharifullina and Alfiya Iskhakova ” has started its work in the Museum of Islamic Culture.
The exhibition introduces the work of two masters involved in the art of traditional shamail.
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Historically, traditional glassblowers in Damascus used recycled glass melted in wood-fired furnaces, a process that demands high skill and meticulous attention to craftsmanship.

For generations, the knowledge and artistry of glassblowing have been passed down from master to apprentice within families and small workshops, making it a vital living heritage of the city.

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In Russia came into force a new law on folk art crafts
January 17, 2024 14: 03
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Its main advantage is that the status of masters of folk art crafts can now be obtained by self-employed, and not only individual entrepreneurs or large factories.
In Russia, a new law on folk art crafts came into force.
Now masters can choose the appropriate tax regime, and the authorities will provide them with systemic support.
What other innovations are fixed in this document, will tell Anna Shuster, writes Watch.
The house of Victoria and Leonid Chernovs has long been compared with a museum.
In 1988, they got into Gzhel by distribution after graduating from the Krasnoyarsk Art Institute.
At first, they worked in a production association, then opened their own individual entrepreneurs – they became individual entrepreneurs, then they received the status of self-employed.
When there are only two masters in production, it is much more profitable.
Income tax is only 4%, in addition, self-employed are exempt from insurance premiums.
But the artistic value of their products self-employed masters could not prove, the expert art council could not certify their works.
Until in December, a new law on folk arts and crafts was issued.
The status of masters of folk art crafts can now be obtained by self-employed, not only individual entrepreneurs or large factories.
Here, in the Union of Gzhel Masters, this was expected for several years, because 90% of the members of the union are self-employed.
"Now the artist, a natural person, in the status of self-employed can also pass the art expert council and get the status already legally - the status of" Master of folk art craft ", - comments the representative of the Union of Gzhel masters Valentin Rozanov.
In the 1980s, Valentin Rozanov worked as the chief artist of the Gzhel production association.
He has seen nine of the 16 local ceramics factories shut down over the past two decades, and the number of workers in the porcelain factory has dropped from 1,500 to 100.
The only way to survive and preserve the craft traditions was the opening of home workshops.
This is the way the Kashtanovs went.
Moreover, Nikolai himself built a kiln for firing with a temperature of 900 degrees and a slicker-mixer for the preparation of porcelain mass.
Here it is stirred at a constant speed of 320 revolutions per hour – otherwise air bubbles will appear – and is cleaned.
It is important that the new law on folk arts and crafts fixed the concept of "model model product of folk arts and crafts" and fixed the main directions of state support for masters.
Industry experts consider this extremely important, and propose to go even further - to introduce an additional article of state financing - for the technical re-equipment of production.
“We use stoves in almost all industries, and replacing these old stoves with new ones will reduce energy costs by almost three times, ” says Gennady Drozhzhin, Chairman of the Board of the Association of Folk Artistic Crafts of Russia.
Even for the preservation and development of folk crafts, the Association considers it important to develop sales markets and cultural tourism, because it is one thing to buy a ready-made thing in the store, another thing - on an excursion in the workshop to witness the birth of an art object and make sure that the gods do not burn the pots.
Photo: pxhere.com

Syrian glassware has played an important role in the region’s social and economic life, with products being prized for their beauty and utility by local residents as well as connoisseurs far beyond Syria.

Today, however, the number of craftsmen practicing traditional glassblowing in Damascus and nearby regions has dramatically declined, due to challenges such as the impact of war, industrialization, rising material costs, and declining market demand for handmade goods.

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Content: News section
The “fourth dimension ” of Vitaly Skobeev: what will be the transitional age of mankind
In the gallery "Dom-Art" opened an exposition of philosophical paintings of Kazan painter Vitaly Skobeev.
The work of the Honored Artist of Tatarstan has always been distinguished by a particularly close interest in mythology, biblical subjects and religions of different peoples.
Working in the style of symbolism, he seeks to combine all the best created in the most diverse areas of human life.
It brings to the fore the philosophical questions that every person is asked at a certain period of life.
This is evidenced by the names of his paintings - "The Creation of Man", "The Birth of the Soul", "The Tree of Life".
More details in the material "Real time".
Tips from the past and the future are not for everyone
Vitaly Skobeev combined in this exhibition works from different series - "Annunciation", "Mythology", "Teachers" and "Tablets of Space", adding to the already known, exhibited paintings and new, which, in fact, lead to the theme of the exhibition - "The Fourth Dimension".
The meaning of the name is that the three-dimensional, regardless of our will and desire, gradually disappears.
In fact, only those who expand and change their creation will be able to enter the future, and the events of recent years confirm this.
For a long time I had planned to make an exhibition, but like many, the pandemic broke our plans.
Perhaps now the time has come, ” said Vitaly Skobeev.
According to esotericists, now the development of mankind has come to the point where it is necessary to make a choice: the old world or the new era.
We end our lives in the third dimension, that is, in the material world, in order to move into the fifth, truly spiritual, with different values and aspirations.
Why not the fourth?
Because it is impossible to make such a leap in one leap, a transitional period is required, that is, a gradual change.
Thus, the theme of the exhibition can be interpreted both as “the transitional age of mankind ”, and as clues in the way from the sages of the past, and the future spiritual beauty that will open to a person if he is able to take this step.
Reasoning, of course, difficult, but so far the ideas of the artist can simply be felt, having come, to be silent near his paintings.
Fathers and children
Vitaly Skobeev was born in the family of the famous artist and socialist realist Valery Nikolaevich Skobeev, a graduate of the Kazan Art College named after Nikolai Feshin and the Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture named after Ilya Repin.
The young painter studied in the traditions of the academic art system, but did not remain within the framework of the realistic direction, preferring his own individual style and author ’ s artistic style.
At one point, a conflict between fathers and children was brewing in the family, but seeing how contemporaries evaluate the work of his son, Valery Nikolaevich retreated and even began to help him.
My father always told me that the basis of everything is harmony, in it beauty, through which you can influence people.
Look, harmony is everywhere – in music and architecture, even mathematicians appreciate a beautiful formula or theory.
If we talk about my art, it is at the junction of esotericism, religion and science.
And look - now all these spheres seem to unite, returning to their origins.
Physicists, for example, make discoveries that were once written in the Vedas, the artist reflects.
All at the right time
It is difficult for Vitaly Skobeev to say how much time it takes to create one work.
Sometimes, pictures are written quickly, sometimes you have to postpone work, because the final idea is not “crystallized ”, you need to take a pause“ to think ”:
First, a general idea comes to me, then, starting to work, I begin to fill it with details.
Look at the picture "Tree of Life" - I have collected an image of this symbol from all nationalities of different times and beliefs.
They are like bricks of a common tree, similar to a castle or fortress.
Its roots go to infinity, and upwards it tends to the sky, the highest mind, the purest energy.
The artist in the broad sense of the word, like the great scientist, is often associated with something mystical.
It unites us.
Remember, Beethoven said that the music comes to him in a finished form, he only writes it down, Mendeleev his table at all dreamed.
Perhaps we are guides, at least we should strive for this.
The higher forces see everything and give us something only at the right moment.
As they say, “The teacher comes when the student is ready. ”
Delayed Journey and Teachers
It is interesting that the artist himself has not yet managed to go on a pilgrimage to Nepal or live in an ashram in India - he postponed everything, and now it is difficult to plan at all.
And you have to constantly think about the daily bread.
“I see a special meaning in self-restraint, I find pleasure in a certain maximalism.
Like everyone else, I find a compromise between the material and the spiritual.
Ask and it will be given to you, as they say in the Bible, ” admitted Vitaly Skobeev.
In his knowledge and creativity, Vitaly Skobeev also relies on great teachers, who often act as heroes of his paintings.
Pythagoras and Diogenes, Paul Florensky and Helena Blavatsky, the Roerichs and Sri Aurobindo - their teachings slide through the entire vernissage, they are dedicated, in particular, to the cycle "Teachers".
The connection of the upper world and the earthly world, according to the artist, is carried out through the Messengers, who, in accordance with the plan of the Universe, are sent to people throughout the history of mankind to convey the sacred knowledge of Eternity.
The series includes works dedicated to Plato, Diogenes, Confucius, Buddha, the Old Testament prophet Moses, Leonardo da Vinci and others.
Myths and space
The cycle "Mythology" includes works on mythological subjects of various peoples and world cultures: Ancient Greece, Egypt, India, myths and legends of the Middle Ages.
According to the author, myths of all times and peoples have a common origin and are the key to knowledge about life.
The paintings of the cycle, for example, “Adam and Eve ”,“ Orpheus and Eurydice ”, “The Death of Atlantis ”,“ The Swan and Leda ” touch upon the issues of the creation of the world and the origin of mankind, themes that are the leitmotif of the entire creativity of Vitaly Skobeev.
The cycle of the “Tablets of Cosmos ” contains a metaphorical understanding of those laws and postulates that were sent and sent to humanity in different forms and types, the laws by which the entire outer space is arranged and by which humanity must live and develop.
The paintings of this cycle have a single compositional solution - in the upper part of the canvas, cosmogonic projects, the work of the Cosmos are depicted, and below - the course of earthly evolution, the stages of human development, the embodiment of the "Global Plan" about it.
Update for Easter
On Friday, the exhibition held a re-exposition, and the whole first floor was occupied by the cycle "Blagovest".
This was done specifically for the celebration of Orthodox Easter.
Traditionally, the word "gospel" is called the ringing of a large church bell, announcing the beginning of worship.
The theme of the outgoing life, folk customs and patriarchal order will remind the viewer of the eternal spiritual values accumulated by our ancestors, values, preserving which, a person is able to cultivate purity and spirituality in himself.
The works of this cycle - "Life-Being", "Spring Equinox", "Apple Saved", "Sacred Spring" immerse the viewer in the original world of folk life, its traditional way of life.
The exhibition runs until May 3.
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Anna Tarletskaya, photo by Rinat Nazmetdinov
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Many historic workshops have closed or converted to other trades, and it is estimated that only a handful of glassblowers in Damascus continue to use the ancestral techniques and tools.

The transmission of this specialized knowledge is increasingly threatened, as there are fewer opportunities for young people to learn and sustain the craft under current economic and social conditions.

Recognizing the urgent threat to this unique cultural practice, UNESCO included the art of glassblowing in Damascus on its List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.

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Content: Within the framework of the new project of the International Mugham Center "Azerbaijani Mugham", master classes "Ustad dərsi" dedicated to the performing art of playing the container are continuing.
Another lesson of the famous tarist and teacher Elkhan Muzaffarov was dedicated to mugham "Nava", which is performed extremely rarely and is known to a few music connoisseurs, is one of the little-studied and forgotten mugams, reports Day.Az.
The master noted that despite the fact that the mugham "Nava" is included in the curriculum, there are a small number of performers who know this mugham with accuracy.
Among the performers of "Nava" can be noted the names of outstanding performers Akhmed Bakikhanov, Bahram Mansurov, as well as performers of our time Vamig Mammadaliyev and Sabukha Jafarov.
This mugham is on the list of complex mugams.
The master also mentioned that in addition to originality during instrumental performance, mugham "Nava" has originality and during the performance of his hanende, also requires extensive experience in musical skill.
Elkhan Muzaffarov informed the participants about the differences of mugham "Nava" from other mugams and noted that it arose as a result of the merger of several mugams, includes "Dashti" and "Bayaty-Kurd" and has a more ancient history than dastgah "Shur".
During the session, which was remembered by interesting and informative discussions and analysis of mugham participants and the technique of their execution, problems regarding gaps in the teaching of mugham dastgah were touched upon, as well as sections "Nava", transitions between sections and additional tones were discussed.
The purpose of the project is to preserve and pass on to future generations of the Azerbaijani school of classical performance, to preserve the tradition of "mentor-pupil".
In the master classes, which will be held regularly throughout the year, it is planned to participate prominent representatives of the performing arts on the container.
Participation in the master classes is free and anyone can take part in them.
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The listing underscores the international significance of Syrian glassblowing as a repository of collective memory, artistry, and technical heritage, and calls for active measures to support, preserve, and revitalize this endangered tradition for future generations.

Title:

Content: Surprise with algae and clay
Khruleva Inga
The main feature of the Sevastopol socio-cultural project “Kamka and Kil ” is products made of unique blue clay and the unexpected use of seaweed.
The creative project combines craft workshops and educational and leisure space, where they teach pottery, cook soap, soak in a bath and rejuvenate in a tank with black sea algae.
How it all started
Sergei and Olga Moskalyuk moved to Sevastopol from Moscow.
Being tourists and having traveled around different countries and cities, they fell in love with the Crimea and chose Sevastopol for life and creativity.
Their dream was to create an attractive tourist destination that combines production and interactive excursions.
In 2016, in the Delagardova beam, the couple built a manor and began to develop their project.
They believe that in the world of consumption, there is little to surprise a person who has everything, but you can help realize creative opportunities!
Based on this, enthusiasts decided, based on old practices and experience, to return interest in forgotten crafts, to teach children and everyone who wants to create utilitarian things by hand.
Today, in the open workshop "Kamka and keel" there are several craft "stations", educational programs and master classes have been developed, and even there they try to make various tourist souvenirs.
Children are the most responsive audience.
They always want to do something, they do not need to be persuaded and it is not difficult to interest them.
Only, small children do not hold the focus for so long, it is easier for them to do than to listen, so that young guests do not get tired, the estate has a choice of craft locations for different types of "doing", - said the head of the craft workshop O. Moskalyuk.
In just a season, interactive excursions in the workshops are visited by up to two thousand children.
Soap "Kil" - a souvenir legend
According to O. Moskalyuk, now souvenir soap is made by a huge number of people in different regions.
But the Kil soap, which is produced in Sevastopol as part of the project of the same name, is a special story.
- Keel's nowhere else.
Soap "Keel" is our thing, and around this we spin the story, - says the head of the workshop.
The Crimean keel is not just clay particles formed during the destruction of various rocks and settled on the bottom of the water basin, but the converted volcanic ash is bentonite clay.
It has long been mined near Sevastopol on Sapun Mountain (translated from Turkic "sapun" means soap) and in Balaklava.
Taurida vice-governor, scientist and traveler Karl Gablitz wrote in 1785: "Six versts from Inkerman... deserves a note fossil there from the earth soap clay, which Tatar and Turkish women in the baths for washing the head is used and in many places from Balaklava to Constantinople is released."
It is believed that this is one of the first descriptions of a special Crimean clay - keel, which was actively mined and used on the peninsula from ancient times until the middle of the 20th century.
Before the revolution on the peninsula was widely advertised expensive Sevastopol soap of the highest grade "Miracle of Crimea", made of keel and palm oil.
Everyone knows that soap is made from natural oils.
In our case, it is coconut, palm and fir.
Everything is natural.
The main idea of our soap is to use a keel.
We always tell our guests its unique story, - shares the secret of soap making O. Moskalyuk.
Soap "Kil" has a marble texture of stone.
Consists of 85% oil and 15% of the caring component - keel, it is added to soften the mass, and fir oil - for flavor.
According to O. Moskalyuk, cooking soap is “not a higher mathematics, but still a chemical process ”, so children do not participate in it, but watch it with pleasure.
Ceramics
Everyone wants to have handmade ceramics, but it ’ s an expensive product.
Producing ceramic products is interesting, but difficult.
The organizers of the project believe that a quality tourist souvenir is determined by two criteria: it should not be expensive and have its own history.
In their workshop, two pottery wheels and a kiln are installed, and they directed the focus of their creative activity towards conducting master classes on working with clay.
On excursions, visitors are told about the history of crafts, which traditions in the production of ceramics have been preserved on the peninsula.
In their work, the masters are guided by the age of the guests.
Young children are offered to sculpt angels from clay for the New Year, in the fall - vegetables: pumpkin, tomato, which can be used as caskets.
Teenagers prefer to make more complex things: cups, plates.
In this work, the tourists are assisted by professional artists-ceramists.
Algae rock
In addition to popular educational programs, the estate has a leisure space - a wood-fired sauna and a large cast-iron vat installed in the open air.
It can take health baths at the same time six people.
Under the tank there is a furnace, which allows you to maintain the water temperature at the optimal level depending on the time of year.
For rejuvenation, algae is added to the water - a stone that gives a relaxing and calming effect.
Kamka (translated from Turkic "spring") is a genus of green algae, common in the Black and Azov seas.
Its scientific name is Zoster.
Algae are rich in organic iodine, iron, zinc, copper, cobalt and other trace elements.
According to our interlocutor, recently kamka is in high demand.
These algae are also used as insulation in the construction of houses, for therapeutic and therapeutic purposes in the form of pillows and mattresses, bads and even seasoning.
Work with enthusiasm
In addition to soapmaking and ceramic production, the workshops in Delagardova Balka have platforms for the production of raw oils from seeds and chocolate from cocoa beans.
- Despite the fact that the project is actively developing, it is still difficult to work, - complains O. Moskalyuk. - We are not a commercial, but a socially oriented business.
But in connection with the pandemic and now, against the background of a special military operation, it is necessary to work with zero financial returns.
She and her husband have two companies - one non-profit with jurisdiction in Sevastopol, the second - IP - is registered in the Crimea.
“We do not change the jurisdiction, because in the Crimea at least small subsidies, but we receive.
There, with projects like ours, they work more quickly, ” O. Moskalyuk stressed.
According to her, their Sevastopol NGO is a creative project, and therefore it is difficult to identify.
Last year, they applied for participation in the competition for a grant announced by Rosturizm.
We wanted to re-equip the craft grounds to improve the quality of excursions, but did not receive a grant.
Officials explained that their NGO is “not quite tourist ”.
Since educational activities are more for the soul, you have to earn the production of souvenirs: soap, oil, ceramics.
“At the state level, the task is set to help artisans to sell their products through the development of fairs, but at the local level everything is done formally, ” O. Moskalyuk believes.
And they want to sell their souvenirs in conceptual shops, where the product is selected according to the meaning, has a history or legend.
But such fairs, in her opinion, there are in Evpatoria, in New Jerusalem, on Massandra beach in Yalta, but in Sevastopol they are organized only for a “tick ”.

Syria is home to some of the oldest artisanal traditions in the world, and Damascus is renowned as an incubator for ancient industries, including traditional glassblowing.

Title:

Content: (Hakawati) Drama of the beautiful time and nice Ramadan evenings
Damascus-Sana
The image presented to us by the visual space through its channels, which compete strongly for the premiere of its dramas in Ramadan, is only a natural evolution of an art that began more than a hundred years ago, based on the story, using the efforts of one hero, the storyteller, how did the art of storytelling begin?
RAMADAN NIGHTS
A storyteller, storyteller, storyteller or storyteller, by definition, is a person who has been a storyteller in homes, shops and cafes, who used to crowd around people in the past, not only telling the story in constant interaction with his audience, but motivated by enthusiasm to embody the role of the character that he tells about with movement and voice.
Hakawati is a profession that relied on one character, the character of the storyteller, she possessed her own treasure of diversity and difference, and she roams the psychological character in all respects and depends on the extension and prolongation of the story so that it turns into a night series that can cover the days of the month of Ramadan.
Folk cafes are a theater for storytellers
With his voice and image, Hakawati is the alonis of the Ramadan evenings, telling stories of heroism and manhood in front of a group of people in the popular cafes. Mohammed Khair Kilani, who for thirty years embodied the role of Hakawati in the Ramadan evenings of Homs, showed that the popular cafes were the center of Hakawati and his stories were linked to the holy month. She, they follow attentively his movements and his interaction with the storytelling and sometimes embodying the role of her characters.
Al-Hakawati is a character, according to Kilani, was once considered a means of collective entertainment and education for the real and fictional stories of heroism and the promotion of moral values and positive behaviors, pointing to the most famous tales known (Antara, Al-Zir Salem, Al-Himma, and Strange Beni Hilal) and others.
The origin of the folk tale
The East was the source of popular tales, as most studies and researches in the field of the history of the emergence of the folk tale, and the opinions differ between those who consider the Arab East the source of the tale and its origin as the Babylonians, Assyrians and Pharaohs, and between Persia and India is the origin of the tale, and then moved from it to Mesopotamia according to the book of the popular tale between the past and the present by Mustafa Muhammad Ali Mystic.
The popular tale was known in the Arab heritage early on, as the books of Tabari, Isfahani, Masoudi, Ibn Kathir and others gathered many of these tales, which were known in the pre-Islamic era and what followed, mixed with the traditions and news of kings, as well as what was deposited in the collective memory of old news and facts.
It was formed in the beginnings in the public circles did not take care of anyone of the private, except as a kind of nice Asmar, and in the second century AH accounted for the interest of news and poets and writers, especially in the Abbasid era where translated Ibn al-Maqba book (Kalila and Damna) and increased interest in the third and fourth centuries, and mentioned historian Hamza Esfahani that it was in his era of books of the brown hands circulation Of the seventy books, books on the Hadiths of Sinbad and the Snail and the Mouse also appeared during the period when there was a wide discussion about the introduction of the tales of One Thousand and One Nights into the Arab heritage.
It ’ s a job that doesn ’ t die in Damascus.
In 1990, Rasheed al-Hakawati al-Damascene revived the profession of Hakawati at the coffee shop (al-Nawfra) at the request of the owner of the coffee shop Abu Saleh al-Rabat grandfather and the heads of religious rituals, where they decided to serve it after the Maghreb prayer until the Isha ’ an to be served in Ramadan after the Taraweeh prayer.
Hakawati Al-Sham Rashid Al-Hallaq started the art of Hakawati for the intangible cultural heritage since 1990 and continued until 2014 at the Nofra Café and was presenting stories that combine lessons and awareness, where he dealt with the story of the apparent King Bebars, Antra bin Shadad Al-Absi and many others.
On this subject, Shadi Alhallaq, Jr., spoke in a statement to SANA correspondent, saying that the tourist delegations had a permanent stop in the cafe to attend the Hakawati and take commemorative pictures with him, pointing to the works of his father Rashid, which exceeded the Syrian borders, where he participated in the Jerash Festival in Jordan in 1992 and until 1995 on the theater of sound and light. Hump, participated with the UNESCO Committee of the Medleheart Project for the Protection of the Heritage of the Mediterranean Countries in 2010.
Shadi the barber deepened his father ’ s career and began searching for the mythical and historical stories loved by the audience of storytellers from Syrian cafes and collected handwritten books and restored them as the story of One Thousand and One Nights and the sword of the son of Yazan. The French Institute for Middle Eastern Studies printed the story of the apparent king Bebars with the help of his father to explain some words and their meanings.
The son of the barber pointed to the heritage treasure that he found during the search operations, which was written in a coded language, which he discovered that it is a tent of Karkouz and preachers of Syria, where his father explained to him how to present and make them of leather, colors, ways of moving and the names of the pieces and their recipes to present the first presentation of shadow fiction in the presence of a group of shadow fiction.
Shadi Alhallaq practiced this profession with the art of Hakawati until it was classified by UNESCO on the list of urgent conservation in cooperation with the Syrian Secretariat for Development and provided a workshop to teach 22 students to make shadow and animation and teach them the basics of the profession and traditional craft.
Hereditary career:
Shadi went on to turn the Hakawati profession into a continuous work project for him and his children, pointing out that it is his profession that he loves and he continued in it after the death of his father in 2014 and continued the journey of Hakawati Al-Sham with the shadow imagination and currently his children learn this art.
Jawad bin Rashid, the oldest barber, has performed shadow fiction since he was nine years old at Qasr al-Azm Theater in the festival of (grandparents to grandchildren) and now he is 10 years old has more than 40 shadow fiction shows, the youngest of them and helps his father manufacture pieces and make presentations.
Eight-year-old Rashid is also learning the profession of storyteller and shadow fiction, and five-year-old Jad is driven by his passion for shadow fiction, which he drinks from his family, to provide dialogues at home and for the family.
Hakawati is a comprehensive artist:
Hakawati Ammar Jarrah says in a statement to SANA correspondent: The character of Hakawati is a historical figure known from the immaterial heritage inherited from generation to generation, and he has been working in this field since 2000 and every year of the month of Ramadan appears in this character to protect it from extinction, like the shadow imagination (Karkouz and Ewaz), and the world fund to remain in memory.
Al-Jarrah pointed out that he is working on developing it to suit the people ’ s desire through his presence with his audience in traditional restaurants and cafes, choosing local stories that carry humor and interest to the public in addition to the presence of an oriental takht to play music, and the presentation of the Mesharati segment.
Tarek Ali, one of the listeners of the storytellers, said that the choice of the presence of storytellers for the folklore stories and the stories of his heroes revives the beautiful times, where he catches their eyes with the tone of his voice, which rises and falls in harmony with the course of events and the enthusiasm contained in his story.
Lawyer Rana Bakbashi found in the character of Hakawati a return to the revival of the immaterial heritage, and to create an atmosphere of love and harmony, and a little away from the pressures of life in addition to attracting the young generation to listen to the championships of Antra and Abu Zaid al-Hilali and learn the values of chivalry and Arab ethics.
Economic and Heritage Project
Hakawati is not only a profession, but the details of the owner of the profession carry with it a growing economic importance in the Syrian society, starting from the clothes of Hakawati, which includes a dark red cowl on the head and a bra made of hand looms and long Shami pants. The zenar is a roll of Damasco fabric, Damasco brocade, in addition to a shawl on the shoulders of silk and an Arabic jacket called Damer. The silk belly is as black as the trousers are black and the storytellers sit in the public cafes on a chair that represents the work of the hands of the Damascene craftsmen of carved wood and mosaic restaurant with seashells.
These details represent traditional heritage crafts bearing the distinctive Syrian character of Damascene brocade, Aghbani mosaic, engraving and engraving on wood and shells, explained by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Syrian Development Society Ramal Saleh, indicating that this heritage has become a development project for many Syrian families through the project (Orient House for Heritage) launched by the Society with the support of the Syrian Trust for Development, which includes 13 artisans. Zain, whose workshops were destroyed by the terrorist war on Syria, was collected in an old Arab house with an area of about 750 meters, and provided them with production tools and requirements to preserve the cultural and cultural heritage and their production is present in external and local exhibitions.
Saleh pointed out that the Aghbani industry is also one of the most important projects of the Association, which was established at the end of 2017, which brings together women affected by the war in Douma city in Damascus countryside, where it started with four women to include 450 women within four years.
As for the Damascus brocade, Saleh pointed out that it is one of the finest and most luxurious fabrics in the world, as it is woven from natural silk threads extracted from silkworm cocoons, a luxurious fabric woven on the hand loom and added to it golden and silver threads. Damascus is known as the incubator of this industry, which is one of the oldest Syrian industries.
Saleh added that the Damascene brocade reflects the culture, nature and history of the region through the drawings called princesses or Damascene cloth and its threads woven the most beautiful paintings and prints such as the lover and the mahshooq, Salahuddin, Romeo, Juliet, Damascus rose and Damascus jasmine. The brocade is expensive because of the difficulty of extracting natural silk and the presence of silver and gold threads inside.
Saleh said that Damascus included several factories for the production of Damascus brocade, the most famous of which was the Naasan factory for handicrafts near Bab Sharqi. The importance of Naasan Palace with the factory lies in the fact that its founder is one of the mosaic and brocade artists, the young Georges Naasan, who built the factory in 1720 in Bab Sharqi to pour his leadership in the mosaic school itself.
Muhasen Awad - Rasham Mahrez - Tamam Al-Hassan - Alaa Al-Shehabi
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The storytellers...
An authentic Ramadan heritage

Glassblowing in Damascus is one of Syria’s most iconic crafts and is deeply rooted in the city’s history and identity.

Historical records note that Syrian craftsmen developed sophisticated glassblowing techniques as early as the Roman era, leading to the creation of unique forms and styles that distinguish Syrian glassware from other regional traditions.

Traditional Syrian glassblowing involves using local raw materials, such as sand, and hand tools passed down through generations to shape both utilitarian and decorative objects.

The craft is closely tied to urban and domestic life in Damascus, with beautifully colored and intricately patterned glassware forming a hallmark of the city’s historic markets and homes.

Syria’s glassblowers have long served as cultural ambassadors, with their products reaching distant countries through ancient trade routes and contemporary exhibitions.

Today, the status of this traditional craft is dire, as the number of practicing artisans has dwindled to just a few individuals, many of whom are elderly, and some traditional workshops have closed due to economic hardship, war, and the influx of mass-produced goods.

Title:

Content: The last of the princesses.
Syrian eighties flirted with the “silk palace ” for 60 years
© Sputnik.
Mohammad DamourShamsa Bilal, the last of the princesses..
Syrian eighties flirted with the “silk palace ” for 60 years
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Shamsa Bilal leads the hall of Khan Asaad Pasha, an old and different woman, nestled inside her head with soft, colorful silk threads that weave them and pass through them traces of those who were here before.
Sixty years ago, these silk threads wrapped themselves as soon as they were touched by Anamel Shamsa, who stands today to plunge into her memories and come out opening a hole in the wall of the souls of twelve women sitting in front of her, imparting the secrets of the captivating “silk cricket ” profession that seeped into their souls.
Mrs. Shamsa is now the last professional of the Silk Screen..
This description stores a human journey that appears among the silk strands of Syrian history for thousands of years, and the colors of its strands store a personal life story with all its sweetness and bitterness.
© Sputnik.
Mohammad DamourShamsa Bilal, the last of the princesses..
Syrian eighties flirted with the “silk palace ” for 60 years
The last of the princesses.
Syrian eighties flirted with the “silk palace ” for 60 years
As a princess and guardian of history, Shamsa sits on the throne of Syrian silk, but this dramatic picture is not without tragic glimpses. Today, she stands on the doorsteps of her castle as the last pure dynasties do, lest her throne be transformed into the ruins of the future.
Afaf al-Nabwani, a plastic artist and member of the National Association for the Development of Tourism in Syria, was the author of the idea, as he drew her attention through the internal tourism tours held by the association to produce silk in the city of Hama, specifically the craft of “Sarr al-Qaz ”, which means binding silk threads produced by the silkworm, a craft that is dying in Syria.
© Sputnik.
Mohammad DamourShamsa Bilal, the last of the princesses..
Syrian eighties flirted with the “silk palace ” for 60 years
The last of the princesses.
Syrian eighties flirted with the “silk palace ” for 60 years
Al-Nabwani told Sputnik that Sarr Al-Qaz is an ancient Syrian craft, where it was made of silkworm silk Hamwi folklore, and this silk was spread throughout the Syrian geography, and its workers produced more than 72 different types, and the city of Palmyra was a center for the production of silk, which was distributed to the countries of the world through the famous Silk Road. Its high durability and health benefits, ancient producers called it "second skin" because of its health benefits, especially for people with skin allergies.
“During my visit to the city of Hama, I met Mrs. Shamsa Bilal, who is the last person to practice the craft of Sarr Al-Qaz, and I came to the need to preserve this craft from extinction and thus cooperate with Mrs. Shamsa to teach the profession of Sarr Al-Qaz to a number of trainees wishing to learn it. ”
© Sputnik.
Mohammad DamourShamsa Bilal, the last of the princesses..
Syrian eighties flirted with the “silk palace ” for 60 years
The last of the princesses.
Syrian eighties flirted with the “silk palace ” for 60 years
As for the education course of Sarr Al-Qaz, which is hosted by one of Syria ’ s most prominent heritage landmarks, Khan Asad Pasha, Al-Nabwani revealed that all 12 trainees are interested in silk and aware of its value and have pre-hand skills in dealing with these materials.
On the other hand, the artist Afaf al-Nabwani talked about the role of silk in supporting the Syrian economy, pointing out that if more attention is paid to the production and manufacture of silk will be one of the most important tributaries of the local economy. In the past, silk was traded for gold. C among them.
© Sputnik.
Mohammad DamourShamsa Bilal, the last of the princesses..
Syrian eighties flirted with the “silk palace ” for 60 years
The last of the princesses.
Syrian eighties flirted with the “silk palace ” for 60 years
Mrs. Shamsa Bilal, the last practitioner of silk sorting, sits at her table, carrying her eighty years with all her experiences and memories, linking her with twelve trainees and linking silk threads together, to weave a new generation of enthusiasts to practice this ancient profession and keep it from disappearing.
The smile on Ms. Shamsa ’ s face reveals how happy she is to be among the trainees and how responsive they are to her, “I teach the ladies here this ancient craft so that it doesn ’ t go extinct, and I ’ m thrilled to see them hand-knit silk threads of all colors and shapes, ” she said.
© Sputnik.
Mohammad DamourShamsa Bilal, the last of the princesses..
Syrian eighties flirted with the “silk palace ” for 60 years
The last of the princesses.
Syrian eighties flirted with the “silk palace ” for 60 years
The octogenarian woman recalls when she learned this profession at the hands of her mother-in-law and worked in it 60 years ago, when every bride in the city prepared a silk dress in her "apparatus", that is, the bride 's clothes after marriage, and the women gathered to make it. Some of them were in charge of tying silk threads and forming it into pieces of cloth, and others were tailoring and sewing. It enables employees to live a comfortable life.
© Sputnik.
Mohammad DamourShamsa Bilal, the last of the princesses..
Syrian eighties flirted with the “silk palace ” for 60 years
The last of the princesses.
Syrian eighties flirted with the “silk palace ” for 60 years
The participants in the Sarr Al-Qaz course had their opinion regarding this ancient craft, where the artist Alissa Sharabiya, a graduate of the Faculty of Fine Arts, confirmed that she wants to practice the profession of silk production because it is a Syrian heritage and learning it is an important gain for those who are proud of the heritage of his country.
Sharabiya was not the only one to be proud of her love of ancient Syrian heritage, as artist Jelnar Hamdan, who is also a graduate of the Faculty of Fine Arts, pointed out that the profession of sorghuz is a dying profession and it is up to us as new generations to preserve it because it is our heritage.
© Sputnik.
Mohammad DamourShamsa Bilal, the last of the princesses..
Syrian eighties flirted with the “silk palace ” for 60 years
The last of the princesses.
Syrian eighties flirted with the “silk palace ” for 60 years
Twelve Syrian women are proud of their country ’ s heritage and identity, taking it upon themselves to preserve this heritage and pass it on to future generations who will preserve it and the identity of a country that has always been proud of its children.
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Artisan Ayman Saeed’s work in reviving and training others in heritage crafts and the establishment of heritage incubators, like the Dummar Incubator for Heritage Crafts, are examples of recent efforts to support endangered artisanal knowledge.

Title:

Content: Dummar Incubator for Heritage Crafts is the first development project to protect the Syrian heritage from extinction and maintain its continuity, and provides the right conditions for professionals to innovate, develop ideas and access heritage products with creative ideas.
Khobar Code: 576992
Publication date: 27 September 2021
The incubator is the product of an idea that is part of an integrated scientific research entitled "Syrian heritage between the heritage of the past and the challenges of the present", a research that won the Syrian Innovation Award for 2014, and was invested by the General Federation of Craft Associations with interest and support from the central leadership of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party.
He pointed out that the incubator consists of several departments, including the Assad Academy of Craft Arts, in addition to workshops for craftsmen, a cultural center, an exhibition hall, and a commercial center whose mission is to promote and market the craft product in local and foreign markets.
He complained that the incubator provides support for small projects.
The Director of Dummar Incubator for Traditional Crafts said that the incubator ’ s work is based on providing the possibility of gathering various “kar sheikhs ” and craftsmen in one place, which leads to the generation of new ideas through this convergence and convergence and access to new projects.
On the objectives of the incubator, he stressed that "it aims to establish branches in all the province and friendly countries as the basis for the development of small projects."
In turn, Nabil Karkutli, who specializes in alternative energy, pointed out that the objectives of the presence of his craft in the incubator aims to qualify cadres to make alternatives to imports to face the Caesar law as well as recycling materials, in addition to the production of alternative energy devices, especially solar energy.
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Syrian cultural institutions, such as museums and craft associations, have sought to market heritage crafts and encourage transmission to younger generations through exhibitions, educational programs, and collaborative workshops.

Despite these efforts, traditional glassblowing in Damascus continues to face imminent threat from extinction, as ongoing instability has disrupted training, access to raw materials, and the continuity of family-run workshops.

Because of its profound cultural value and its precarious status, Syrian traditional glassblowing has been inscribed by UNESCO on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.

UNESCO’s designation highlights the importance of protecting this unique craft as an essential part of Syria’s cultural heritage and as a symbol of resilience, identity, and artistic achievement.

Urgent safeguarding measures are needed to ensure the survival and renewal of Syrian glassblowing, so future generations can continue to learn from and contribute to this living tradition.

Certainly!

Title:

Content: Alert
In the afternoon, 1591 households in Beitou were without warning.
The people in the sports center changed their clothes in the dark and the telco spoke.
The Three Great Families of Lacquer Arts in Taichung
(David Su / tr. by Phil Newell)
Lacquer art is widely recognized as an art medium that tests the limits of a creator ’ s body and mind. However, the variety and irreplaceable texture of lacquer still attracts artists to devote themselves to lacquer art.
Taichung is the birthplace of Taiwanese lacquer art. During the Japanese period, due to the development of two forest farms in Daze Mountain and Baxian Mountain, and the opening of the “Yamanaka Art Craft Lacquer Manufacturing Institute ” by Mr. Yamanaka, a Japanese lacquer craftsman, later established the“ Taichung City Craft Institute ” (later renamed as the Taichung Craft College). Ching, Wang Ching-chang and Lai Takayama have become giants in the development of Taiwan 's lacquer art. With strong professional spirit and family heritage, the beauty of lacquer has taken root and thrived in this land.
Lacquer is Life: The Wang Ching-shang Family
The 101-year-old Wang Ching-chang is a true national treasure. In 2016, the Presidential Office awarded the second-class King Star Medal. In May this year, Wang Ching-chang was awarded the Executive Yuan Culture Award, and then praised Wang Ching-chang for his contributions to the lacquer industry.
Wang Ching-chuang was born in 1922 in Kamioka. After graduating from the Taichung School of Arts and Crafts in 1941, Wang Ching-chuang was recommended by Yamanaka to the Tokyo Art School ’ s body painting workshop. The spirit of the staff "is deeply rooted in Wang Ching-chang's heart.
80 years of paint.
After returning to Taiwan, Wang Ching-chang not only founded a lacquer company, but also continued to teach lacquer art. In 1954, Yen Shui-long, known as the "father of Taiwanese craftsmanship", saw Wang Ching-chang's rich practical and teaching experience, and invited him to set up a craftsmanship research class in Nantou (now the National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Center). Frost focuses on the creation of lacquer painting, showing the technique to the fullest. Because of his own high requirements, he held his first solo exhibition at the age of 80, and still maintains the habit of daily creation at the age of 100.
With paint for more than 80 years, still maintain a high degree of enthusiasm, Wang Qingshang will undoubtedly play the staff attitude of the benefactors to the utmost.
"Craft into life" is Wang Ching-chang's persistence, the second son Wang Hsien-min and the third son Wang Hsien-chih recalled helping in the lacquer factory from childhood, the brothers graduated from Feng Chia University's business management department, it was the peak of domestic industry export, "then a month can produce a container of about 10,000 jewelry boxes (cookie boxes) to the United States, the profit of about 30 million yuan, when old. The salary of a teacher is about $1,000 per month, which can be said to be very substantial.
And in the beginning it was only our family doing this, so there was almost no need to solicit business, and traders and customers came to the door. "
Talking about the good business at home, in addition to taking the lead, but also using plastic carcasses and screen printing to accelerate production, Wang Ching-chang obtained the latest technology and materials from his Japanese friends, so that the Wang family created Taiwan's first dragon lacquer production line.
Lacquer art has finally come to fruition.
However, with the impact of the relocation of industries, the Wang brothers turned their focus to creation and learning, and the two people who were originally Wang Ching-shang's assistant teachers were also able to cope with the teaching of the syllabus, whether they were early in Fengyuan Lacquer Museum, Kaohsiung Museum of History, Ilan Art Center, or even in the Tonglin community of Hsinyi Township, which is already at the foot of Yushan Mountain.
"20 years ago, when the enrollment, the venue and materials were ready, but no one came to learn, now is not the same, 12-person class unexpectedly more than 100 people registered, Dad said that everyone to learn to give them the best, we are very pleased to insist for many years, paint has become a prominent school! Even the Japanese teachers are very envious!" 」
"Taichung has rich resources and convenient location. Fengyuan is also a heavy lacquer town. With the lacquer art museum, and Dadun Art Exhibition, more lacquer works have been added in the past year. As long as the cultural city continues to promote and expand its lacquer art pattern, the lacquer art city has a large number of lacquer works." Now Wang Junwei, the third generation of the Wang family, has chosen to take the path of inheritance. Wang Xianmin and Wang Xianzhi, who have been registered as the Preservors of lacquer craftsmanship, continue to teach and create.
The Chen Huo-ching Family
When it comes to the Lord of the Mountain, you will definitely mention his first apprentice, Chen Huoqing.
Unlike Wang Qingshang and Lai Takayama to Japan, Chen Huoqing always stayed close to Master before he returned to Japan. He even gave him horns and tools he used when he was a teacher.
After the war, in order to maintain his family's livelihood, Chen Huoqing entered Taichung's "Air Force Third Aircraft Manufacturing Plant" (later known as Shuinan Airport) and did aircraft chemical painting work for 12 years. However, Chen Huoqing never gave up his studies and continued to make lacquers during off-hours.
Create Fengyuan lacquer ware peak
Then because of the Japanese wage increase and mountain forest protection policy, Japanese lacquer manufacturers began to come to Taiwan to seek cooperation opportunities, Chen Huoqing's good skills immediately favored, officially opened the era of Taiwan lacquer exports to Japan.
Chen Ching-hui, the eldest son, recalled the scene at that time: "At that time, when the supply of lacquer ware for export was in short supply, his father simply passed the technology to the technician who made the tire or the owner of the lathe, etc., creating a prosperous period for the export of Taichung lacquer ware. At that time, there were at least 40 lacquer factories in Fengyuan, so his father was respected by the people."
After being banned from logging and related industries moved to China and Vietnam, Chen Huoqing began to focus on the inheritance of arts and crafts, and was invited to the Institute of Handicrafts to guide and teach, and began a technical apprenticeship program, creating lacquers such as Liao Shengwen, Liu Qinglin, and Huang Lai-shu. Chen Ching-fai takes over.
"In the past, I always helped silently at home, and my father and third brother were responsible for external social interaction. After they died, I began to have more contact with everyone." 」
Master is committed to teaching.
Chen Ching-hui was deeply interested in painting from childhood, so junior high school chose to study at night, and studied with Wang Shuihe, who was known as the "father of advertising", and then went to Tainan to engage in film board painting work. After marriage, he set up an advertising company, made charts, acrylic advertising, etc., for 30 years, until computer graphics replaced manual advertising.
In order to get to know more lacquer artists and improve their skills, Chen Ching-hui participated in the art transfer program that Wang Ching-chang took over.
"Teacher Wang Ching-chang once asked me why I didn't go to Teacher Wang Shuihe, in fact, because every time I went to Teacher Wang, he would be scolded by him, saying that he had taught me kung fu so well and went to the countryside to do it!"
Chen Huoqing, Wang Ching-chang, Wang Shuihe and other masters, Chen Ching-hui was listed as the “Preserver of Lacquer Craftsman – Lacquer ” by the Cultural Bureau of Taichung City Government, and won the 3rd Taichung City Craftsman Award. The seed will be planted in the seed, and the seed will be planted in the seed.
Brushed Lacquer Style 4 Generations
Chen Ching-fai, the third generation of the Chen family, who has also been involved in the creation and dissemination of lacquer art, said that although many courses have been changed to online during the epidemic, lacquer art is prone to detailed errors and difficult to display in video. determination.
Now the fourth generation of Zhang Qifang, in addition to his regular work, has also begun to contribute to the family ’ s nearly century-old lacquer art, and specially filmed the documentary “Grinding the Heart ” to spread the story of the development of the family ’ s lacquer art.
Chen Ching-hui recalls Chen Huo-ching ’ s work attitude: “His father was obsessed with his work, he always kept his work satisfactory until it was delivered on time and always on time! This is the work spirit of the staff! ” Chen Ching-hui, who is 86 years old, still showed unparalleled determination to pass on the beauty of lacquer with his daughter and granddaughter.
Reappearing the Mountain of Light: The Lai Takayama Family
"What Grandpa brought me was the way of doing things, and the care of running the company, and the craftsmanship was more concerned with every detail.
My father taught me the skills, and also used many positive and negative teaching materials in my life to let me know what I should take care of in addition to craftsmanship.
I think the common point of the two is the love and attachment to the profession, which is infused with all the spirit and strength to invest! "
Inheriting the spirit of the two generations of workers, Lai Xinyou opened the tabletop full of tools.
The Road to Taiwan Lacquer Art
Lai 's grandfather, Lai Takayama, received a recommendation from Yamanaka to enter the Tokyo University of Fine Arts after graduating from the Taichung School of Crafts and Crafts. After returning to Taiwan, he founded the "Light Mountain Tour". He was sent to Kanazawa University of Fine Arts and Crafts in Japan to study ancient lacquer techniques.
Lai has been promoting the name of “Tree Paint ” and combining lacquer and pottery as“ TAIWAN WARE ”. Over the years, he has been teaching courses and continuing to hold international exchange activities. He hopes that not only painters, but even the general public can understand the infinite possibilities of changes in lacquer techniques.
Selfless teaching to apprentices, for their own children is more sincere, originally Lai Zuoming wanted to follow his father's model, arranged Lai Xinyou to study in Japan, but he did not want to take this "arranged" road.
The full harvest after the invasion
Lai Hsin-you, who was an assistant to his grandfather when he was a child, wanted to build a deeper foundation for his art. So he took longer to make his products and shortened the time to create them. His father, Lai Tso-ming, wanted him to put aside the production of these daily necessities and focus on creating them. He then turned to the sales of famous souvenir shops, and finally came home because of Lai's poor health.
“I ’ m actually very happy that I ’ ve worked outside, because these experiences have given me a better understanding of the workings and needs of the consumer market.
For example, in the past, my father's works may only be packaged in newspapers. Although the work may be nearly perfect in terms of craftsmanship, the overall consumer experience needs to be taken care of from the service to the store, to the product packaging, and every detail must be taken care of. Get your father ’ s approval.
Bring the paint back to life.
Lacquer ware and the lives of ordinary people have produced a distance, so Lai Xinyou actively through a variety of experience activities and cross-industry cooperation projects, so that people understand the actual appearance of lacquer ware in life, "like a very popular video game" Animal Mori Friends ", to actually put objects into life, you can imagine.
He boldly curated in bakeries and coffee shops, looking for common points between different groups of customers, and opened the door to craftsmanship.
Lai Xinyou also believes that the craftsmanship must keep pace with the times, not completely subverting tradition, but making the lacquer art in line with the modern life field, and looking for demand from life, there is demand to have a market.
Lai Xinyou this pragmatism is the experience of himself, his father and grandfather all the way, is the dedication of the staff to promote craftsmanship.
Wang Qingshang led Wang Xianmin and Wang Xianzhi brothers to industrialize lacquerware, and boldly tried new materials to export Taiwan lacquerware to other countries. Chen Huoqing taught the technology to let Fengyuan lacquerware processing industry flourish for a while. Chen Ching-hui combined with his years of advertising and painting skills. On his own way, Lai Shin-you organized an experience event and promoted the restoration of lacquerware to integrate into modern life. Three different families, the same true love of lacquer art, still stack up in modern society, patiently grinding the lacquer, step by step, inheriting the "professional spirit" of no complaints, no regrets, and admirable.
[See full article on Cultural Stage # 48.]
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However, the extracts you provided are not related to Syrian glassblowing but rather reference various cultural events, crafts, and stories from different regions including China, Iran, Taiwan, and Japan.

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Content: Community Co-Organizing Workshop Grassroots Can Handmade Sugar Dolls
May 05, 2024 11: 11
Eastern Network Television
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The participants made the candy doll by hand.
Blowing sugar has a history of more than 600 years and is now included in Hong Kong ’ s intangible cultural heritage.
After blowing, pinching, pulling and cutting the hands of the artist, the sugar of the hand is transformed into a variety of animals, and the shape is beautiful.
Bumping artist Du Wun went to one of the Hong Kong Association of Community Organisations (HKCGA) ’ s venues in Sham Shui Po from Cheung Chau to demonstrate and teach this traditional folk craft to more than a dozen participants of the Bumping Workshop.
Participants are all from the underprivileged community at the grassroots level. For the first time, they came into close contact with intangible cultural heritage. In addition to watching Master Fu Dai-hsien ’ s skills, they also had the opportunity to make a candy doll by themselves.
Master Tu first kneaded the sugar into a tube. One side of the tube let the participants blow, and the other side began to expand. Master Tu took the opportunity to demonstrate the kneading into different shapes, and the participants learned various skills of blowing sugar.
Yuen Shu-yin, Director of Community Organisations of the HKCSS, said that the grassroots are not happy or experiencing a downturn in their daily life, and their current living conditions are not very good. She hoped that the activities would bring them happiness and enhance their understanding of the heritage.
She described the workshop as a special experience for the underprivileged. Although the first product may not be beautiful, they felt very happy when they showed it.
Du Shifu recalled that he was also a disadvantaged community. When he was young, his family moved to Hong Kong, and lived in subdivided housing when he first came to Hong Kong.
Some people have never seen blowing sugar, and even their mother-in-law, who is 70 or 80 years old, has never seen blowing sugar, and when they see making it, they become a child.
Seeing them happy in the process, they are now able to help others and feel happy.
The Blowing Sugar Workshop is one of the projects funded under the Intangible Cultural Heritage Office Non-genetic Subsidy Scheme of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. The main objective of the Subsidy Scheme is to enhance public awareness and understanding of non-genetic items and to support inheritance.
As of the end of last year, 124 projects have been funded under the Scheme, covering research and publication, public programmes and educational promotion activities, inheritance training courses, festive festivals and so on.
Assistant Curator II of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Office of the LCSD, Mr Wong Kang-yu, pointed out that there are 480 items on the Non-Legacy List in Hong Kong. Through the Non-Legacy Subsidy Scheme, the Department hopes to use a variety of activities and models to promote non-Legacy to people from all walks of life, such as people with disabilities, students and ethnic minorities.

These details do not contain factual information about Syria’s traditional glassblowing, its history, cultural importance, or UNESCO’s recognition.

If you can provide the set of extracts specifically regarding Syrian glassblowing, I will be able to produce your requested 2500-character summary, strictly adhering to the facts and structure you specify.

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Content: People 's Network > > International
Chinese National Dance at the Saudi International Mountain Art Festival
January 22, 2024, 19: 40 | Source: Xinhua Network
Small number
Xinhua News Agency, RIYADH, January 22 (Reporter Wang Haizhou Hu Guan) On the afternoon of the 21st, dancers from the Chinese performance team, dressed in various ethnic costumes, appeared in the third Saudi Quimam International Mountain Performance Arts Festival, and successfully completed the first dance performance of the festival, winning the praise of the Saudi people and the international performance team.
The International Mountain Performing Arts Festival kicked off on the 20th in the Asir region in southwest Saudi Arabia, with a total of 25 international performing groups and 20 Saudi local performing groups participating, including China.
Teachers and students of the dance performance department of the Shanghai Academy of Film Arts were invited to participate in the festival on behalf of Chinese performance groups, and prepared 14 dances with Chinese national characteristics for the festival, showing China's excellent traditional culture.
Deng Yijun, a student of performance, said: "When I saw foreign friends shouting 'China' excitedly during the parade, I felt a strong sense of pride.
"I am proud of China's rich and colorful national culture, and deeply realize that art is a bridge between different cultures and helps promote mutual understanding, communication and integration among people around the world," he said.
Sultan Al Bazi, CEO of the Saudi Council for Theatre and Performing Arts, welcomed the arrival of the Chinese performance team and said that the festival has set up eight unique performance venues in combination with the mountainous terrain of the Asir region, which is larger than last year.
The festival, sponsored by the Theater and Performing Arts Committee of the Saudi Ministry of Culture, will feature hundreds of performances on the theme of mountainous areas in various historical and cultural villages and archaeological sites in the region.
The series runs until January 27.
The reporter learned from the Saudi Committee for Theatre and Performing Arts that there are cultural experience activities, handicraft shops, traditional clothing exhibitions, local food trucks, etc., in various exhibition venues, aiming to provide a full range of services for tourists.
Currently, the Qimam International Mountain Performing Arts Festival is an annual event organized by the Saudi Council for the Dramatic and Performing Arts in the Asir region, aiming to introduce the various performing arts and cultural heritage of Saudi Arabia and the world to local communities, expatriates and tourists, encourage international cultural exchange, and create jobs for local talent.
(Editor: Cui Yue, Liu Hui)
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Please resend the correct extracts relating to Syria’s traditional glassblowing, and I will be happy to generate your summary.

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Content: “Morning Post Creative Space ” Dotsui Workshop is open for registration!
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Jointly organised by Lianhe Zaobao and the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre, the Zaobao Creative Space will hold a workshop on 6 April (Saturday) at the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre.
In ancient times, the bright blue feathers on the back of the kingfisher were embedded in a metal base and made into rare artifacts, which were gradually replaced by considerations of conservation, humanity and supply and demand.
At the upcoming workshop, Kung Panpan, a lover of literature and history and founder of the Hanfu Women's Society, will be present to share and demonstrate the lost craft of Duan Cui.
Participants can also replace kingfisher feathers with colored goose feathers and make their own pointed green brooch.
Registration is now open to the public, and the fee is 40 yuan per person.
Registration is limited, please click on the registration page to register.
"Lianhe Zaobao" VIP (subscribers) can also participate in this event at a special price of 35 yuan per person.
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