Description
In an increasingly globalized world, heritage crafts take on a unique cultural value. Cultivating a collaborative environment for craft, art, and design, has led to a craft revival in Bahrain, generating new opportunities for creativity and development. As a coastal culture, Bahrain produces many craft items for use at sea, from various kinds of dhow boats to cloth for sailors’ garments and fishing nets. Bahrain is also blessed with fresh water, giving rise to palm groves and rush plants, from which artisans craft many styles of baskets and home furnishings combining function with tactile beauty.
The country’s natural resources include mudflats for sourcing clay for pottery and gypsum for carving ornamental architectural panels. The island also has a deep history of metalworking and goldsmithing, producing remarkable embroidery, jewelry and ceremonial weaponry that enhance the culture’s celebratory occasions. The story of crafts is about people and the objects they make, about community, cooperation and a recognition of the value of a country’s cultural heritage. With informative text and original photography, this volume encapsulating the variety and depth of handicrafts in the kingdom of Bahrain will appeal to readers around the world and inspire future generations of artisans to carry forward their own cultural legacy with a renewed sense of appreciation and innovation.
