Watch: How Emirati women keep heritage alive and pass on their traditional weaving skills to generations – News

In economic terms, sustainability revolves around striking a balance between environmental considerations and economic objectives. Essentially, it involves “meeting the needs of the present without depriving future generations of meeting their own needs.”

Culturally, sustainability involves promoting and encouraging the transfer of knowledge from older to younger generations, ensuring the preservation of heritage. This is exactly what unfolded during the two-week UN Climate Summit held at Expo City Dubai.

Inside the Green Zone of COP28, elderly Emirati women dressed in burka’a (the traditional form of modesty for women) were present every day during the two-week climate conference to showcase the heritage of the UAE, in particular Al Sadu, a traditional form of weaving practiced by the Bedouins. women.

Al Sadu has been included in the UN representative list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. In Arabic, ‘Al Sadu’ means to weave horizontally.

The beauty of Al Sadu

“The patterns and design reflect life in a desert environment,” Maha, a young Emirati woman who learned the art of Sadu weaving, shared with Khaleej Times. “The beauty of Al Sadu lies in its simplicity, where geometric designs form symmetry, accentuated by bright colors,” she added.

“Al Sadu is an intrinsic part of our Emirati culture,” Maha said, adding: “Some mothers were very strict about teaching their daughters to weave.”

He continued: “In the past, what I learned from my mother and grandmother, the Bedouins weave to make accessories for their homes, camels and horses.

“The men sheared sheep, camels and goats, and the women cleaned and spun wool. The thread is then dyed black, white, brown, beige or red and placed on a floor loom.”

Community issue

“The most important cultural part of Al Sadu is that Emirati women gather in small groups to spin and weave while sharing family or community news, singing, chanting or reciting poetry,” he added.

For Maha, bringing Al Sadu to COP28 was an important effort to promote culture and teach the young generation what sustainability really means.

“Al Sadu has been passed down to us from generation to generation and is still alive to this day of advanced technology. This has been possible because our community kept it alive,” Maha said, adding: “The message we wanted to convey here is that, like Al Sadu, sustainability is a collective effort. We must all work together and keep our planet alive for ourselves and generations to come.

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