The art of Saudi traditional jewellery: Rejuvenation for a contemporary world

Abstract

This practice-led study investigates a new approach to the design and making of traditional ‎jewellery in Saudi Arabia. Jewellery is very much part of Saudi culture. This research has been ‎prompted by my personal observations that as Saudi culture modernizes traditional jewellery is ‎disappearing and being replaced by jewellery of Western fashion, especially by the younger ‎generations. It is evident that the jewellery worn by Saudi women nowadays falls into one of ‎two categories; traditional or modern. My work demonstrates that Saudi women can have the ‎opportunity to wear jewellery related to their culture while still addressing the desire to move ‎into a modern world. My approach was based on a study of traditional Saudi jewellery styles and ‎techniques. I then experimented with creating new designs that better reflected modern jewellery ‎aesthetics/forms but retained their cultural connections. As part of my study, I investigated two ‎forms that are not found in traditional jewellery in Saudi Arabia, the brooch and convertible or ‎multipurpose jewellery that can be converted into a range of forms. I believe this is one way to ‎break away from conventional traditional forms of jewellery making and widen the concept of ‎wearable art. It is a way to show Saudi women that contemporary jewellery does not have to be ‎‎‘Western’ but can retain traditional elements and be distinctive, and which can be adapted to ‎both traditional and contemporary forms of dress. Once this new approach finds its place in ‎Saudi Arabia, it is hoped that it will become recognisable world-wide as a contemporary form of ‎jewellery that connects with the present and also retains a resonance with its Saudi origins.‎