Ithra’s Khoos Initiative helps keep palm weaving alive for future generations, peace be upon you
Assalamu alaikum - For generations in Al Ahsa, palm weaving has been more than just practical work; it’s a core part of local identity and memory. The King Abdulaziz Centre for World Culture (Ithra) in Dhahran is highlighting this craft through the Khoos Initiative, a project focused on celebrating, preserving and rethinking traditional palm weaving.
The programme brings local artisans together with designers and artists from abroad, encouraging collaboration and showing the social, environmental and creative value of the date palm. Khoos - palm weaving - is one of our region’s oldest crafts, where dried palm fronds are woven into baskets, mats and decorative items. Beyond utility, the craft carries resilience and ancestral knowledge handed down in Al Ahsa, the world’s largest date palm oasis and a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Ithra’s work centres on the living keepers of this knowledge and invites global creatives to learn from them. Noura Alzamil, Ithra’s head of programmes, explains that connecting artisans, artists and designers supports traditional Saudi techniques and helps develop sustainable, innovative approaches within the craft.
The Khoos Initiative started with a residency from October 3–14, bringing designers from across the Gulf and beyond to collaborate with palm weavers. Over two weeks participants exchanged skills and explored ways to bring traditional techniques into contemporary design.
The residency ended with a small exhibition of the early projects, which will keep evolving. Ala’a Alqahtani, who leads the initiative, says it connects centuries of tradition with modern practice and shows palm weaving as both living heritage and a source of future innovation.
Emirati artist Azza Al Qubaisi, who has worked with palm materials since 2006, found the programme a chance to deepen her relationship with the craft. She remembers growing up on her family’s farm in Liwa and feeling a strong tie to the land and the date palm - a connection to ancestors and place. Managing the family farm in 2002 made her aware of changes in material handling and a gap between traditional knowledge and modern practices. Visiting Al Ahsa and seeing farmers still closely tied to the palms strengthened her appreciation for the craft’s cultural meaning.
Through the initiative she experimented with using palms in furniture, sculpture and wearable pieces while honouring traditional methods. ‘‘If I focus on making a good product, then I can sell it instead of throwing it away,’’ she says, and the work reaffirmed sustainable use of natural materials.
Bahraini designer Mariam Alnoaimi joined the residency to explore the relationship between people, land and culture. The palm has always been part of daily life in the Gulf - in objects, shelter and architecture. Industrialisation has eroded some of that knowledge, and she wanted to relearn and bridge that gap by working with communities still practising the craft.
Her project looked at the palm as a source of ecological and cultural knowledge - a seed for further research and creative work. She emphasised understanding the material and craft to inform sustainable, culturally rooted design. For her, the palm illustrates holistic sustainability: every part has a purpose, from leaves and fronds to ropes and the edible heart of the palm, woven into architecture and everyday life across the Gulf.
The Khoos Initiative also runs public programmes to reach wider audiences. The exhibition Baseqat: The Palm Tree Exhibition runs until March 2026 and explores the palm’s ecological and cultural legacy while contemporary artists reinterpret traditional forms. The show includes works by Saudi and international creatives and features a central piece by Obaid Alsafi, among others. Workshops give visitors hands-on ways to learn the craft and engage with artisans.
For Al Qubaisi, the initiative is both personal and cultural. Learning the techniques and the labour behind them changed how she sees today’s craftswomen and gave her ideas for passing the tradition to her children and bringing it back into daily life. Alnoaimi hopes visitors will gain a deeper appreciation for the ecological wisdom woven into palm practices and help reconnect communities with that rich knowledge.
May efforts like this help preserve our heritage and encourage sustainable, community-rooted creativity for the next generation.
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