Irthi Contemporary Crafts Council of Sharjah-based NAMA Women Advancement Establishment launched Hiraf, Arabic for Crafts, an interactive iPad game. The launch took place during a panel discussion hosted at the Women’s Pavilion at Expo 2020, titled Crafting the Future, which dealt with the role of technology in preserving the craft heritage and presenting it in an attractive way for young people to encourage them to engage in authentic craft experiences.
The game was developed in cooperation with Netherlands-based Opera Amsterdam, Studio Louter, and Studio Shosho and is a fun and engaging way to learn the Emirati way of weaving Talli and Safafah crafts.
The session witnessed a review of the efforts made by the Irthi Council, under the directives of Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher Bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Chairperson of NAMA, for the advancement of women, in preserving traditional Emirati crafts, especially the Talli and Safafah crafts, and the council’s offering of Initiatives and projects to document and ensure their sustainability and development, through partnerships with leading international designers and artists, in addition to employing modern technologies in the various stages of design and production, and developing the skills of a new generation of craftswomen.
Irthi organized a workshop on how to use the new electronic game to teach participants the techniques of controversy in the Talli and Safafah crafts using iPads. The workshop revealed the possibilities offered by the game in the world of design and handicraft products, where the user can print Its design is 3D printed on a variety of materials.
The session moderated by Shahad Al Hammadi, Senior Executive – Projects Research and Documentation at Irthi Contemporary Crafts Council; included Eline Koning, Content Designer at Studio Louter; Anita Jensen, Programmer and Novel Expert Visual stories at Studio Shosho; and Emirati designer Ghaya Bin Mismar, Senior Executive in the Design Projects Department at Irthi Majlis.
On the role of technology in protecting crafts and handicrafts, Koning explained, “Traditional crafts are a link between the present and the past, and part of the cultural identity of peoples. Attractive and fun! Koning added, “Thanks to the pioneering efforts of the Irthi Council to document the different techniques of the Talli and Safafah crafts, we were able to seamlessly translate and digitize these techniques.
In turn, Jensen spoke of the use of new means that helps spread knowledge among young people and raises their awareness of their culture and national heritage, and participation in the electronic crafts game aims to contribute to the process of visual documentation of tangible artisanal heritage in a responsible manner.
