Emirati women turn their passions into careers using skills handed down across generations in the UAE

Three Emirati women who have mastered skills passed down from generation to generation are creating high-end handicrafts for international brands such as Cartier and Bulgari.

Fatima Al Naqbi, Sheikha Al Dhuhoori and Fatima Mahmoud (known as “Umm Ahmed”) are producing designer goods in a small craft centre set up in Sharjah to preserve skills passed down from generation to generation.

trio, from Sharjah East Coaststraw baskets and mats are woven from palm leaves, and collars, hem and cuffs are adorned with intricate thread patterns and sold overseas.

Umm Ahmed said their success would not have been possible without the Irthi Contemporary Craft Council, an affiliate of the Nama Women’s Advancement Agency, which has helped them turn their passion into a profitable business. Sharjah Forum.

In 2014, Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, ruler of sharjahmet Umm Ahmed while visiting the Dibba Al Hosn community in Sharjah.

They discussed Umm Ahmed’s handmade bags and the craftsmanship used to create the piece.

Following the meeting, the community formed the Irthi Contemporary Crafts Council to not only help Emirati craftsmen pass on their skills to a new generation of artisans, but also protect the UAE’s cultural heritage.

The women hone their skills and train young women at the Bidwa Social Development Programme Centre in Irthi, Dibba Al Hosn.

international designer

In 2019, Irthi connected Emirati artisans at the centre with international designers in order to produce high-quality crafts that can be sold to the global market. These include Pakistan-based Studio Lel, British artists Adi Toch, Kazuhito Takadoi and Patricia Swannell, and Palestinian designer Dima Srouji.

In less than two years, the women at the center began taking orders from well-known international brands, including Cartier and Bulgari.

Part of its sales proceeds to artisans, while the other part is invested in Irthi’s programs aimed at empowering women in the region through handicrafts.

“When we went there with Irthi, I taught other women, including women from Italy,” Umm Ahmed said at a conference called “Success Stories: How Communication Got Me Here.” The conference is organised by the Nama Women Advancement Establishment as part of the annual international Sharjah Government Communication Forum.

“The craft my mother taught me was almost forgotten when I was almost nine years old.”

Other women joined her in learning how to weave four, five and six straws from palm leaves to produce items that can be used at home, such as mats and baskets.

Word of their work spread, and one day an old woman from the neighborhood came and offered a new skill to improve their work.

“We learned Talli embroidery on dresses, traditional Emirati kandura and bridal wear,” says Umm Ahmad.

Fatima Al Naqbi, a fellow craftsman, learned traditional techniques from her friends at the age of seven.

“My mother used to make these things at home, but she didn’t teach me. My older friend used to teach me what she learned from her mother,” Ms Al Naqbi said.

“Once my mom noticed I tampered with her products, she knew I had learned and started training me better.”

Sheikha Al Dhuhoori started sewing the traditional burqa as a hobby, “but now it’s my trade and business,” she says.

Updated: October 4, 2022, 7:34 am