Heritage woven into Fujairah society

Ghunaimah Ali Ahmad hopes that younger generations can be inspired to take up traditional Emirati crafts.

Ghunaimah Ali Ahmad, a 60 year old Emirati, weaving a palm-frond carpet at the Social Development Centre, Ministry of Social Affairs in Fujairah. Pawan Singh / The National

FUJAIRAH // It has been 30 years since Ghunaimah Ali Ahmad began teaching and preserving the Emirati folk art of weaving.

To this day she firmly believes in passing these skills down through the generations so that the art will endure.

With a remarkable dexterity, the 60-year-old Emirati weaves magnificent palm frond mats, baskets and fans. She also creates carpets out of textiles and embroidered dresses, sleeves and collars.

“When I first joined the Social Development Centre 30 years ago, some trainers came from Sharjah to train us how to do saddoo [wool weaving],” she says. “It is not an easy process and takes time like any other handicraft. We used to make carpets, flags, bags out of wool, but the demand has become less, therefore we stopped doing it for now.”

Every day is a celebration of traditions for Ms Ahmad. She starts her morning at the centre, weaving and remembering the good old days with her fellow workers. She uses the same tools that her ancestors used for hundreds of years, keeping the craft’s traditions alive.

“My father owned a palm farm in Fujairah and my mother made me fall in love with these traditional crafts. I used to watch my parents work together hand in hand to produce a house cover out of palm fronds to protect us from the winter rain,” she says.

According to Ms Ahmad, the process of preparing and producing useful products from palm fronds to meet the family’s daily needs is considered a symbol of bonding; while dresses with traditional embroidered sleeves mark the first steps towards womanhood.

“At the age of eight I started learning from my father how to prepare the palm fronds by cutting and drying them, while my mother taught me how to make various things out of it, like different kinds of ghufran [baskets], food covers and mats.

“Most of the stuff that we used to use during the old days were made of palm fronds.

“After I finally learnt the khoosa [palm frond weaving], at the age of 15 my mother gave me a beautifully embroidered dress and told me that, from now on, I would become a grown-up woman. I was amazed by the patterns and colours of the telli [embroidery] on the dress and from that day I started to learn how to do it.”

Ms Ahmad teaches three to four children aged between eight and 12 each week, and conducts monthly school visits.

“Parents bring their children to learn how to do khoosa but learning about the Emirati heritage and handicrafts requires patience and full concentration, which you can’t find in this new generation,” she says. “They don’t have the ability to spend time doing something other than playing or networking.

“Our generation is different from the current generation, but we should keep on trying to educate them about their ancestors and heritage. Traditions are like the roots of the plant, we can’t live without them.”

Ms Ahmad works also on supplying various institutions and individuals with handicrafts for different occasions, with the help of her fellow workers at the centre.

“We also try to fulfil the community demands of khoosa and telli sleeves, collars for men and women,” she says.

“Most of the time, people request palm frond baskets for weddings, in which they put sweets and treats. Others like the carpets, which take almost two months to finish.

“I will do my best in preserving my country’s heritage and honouring the past, and I encourage everyone to do the same.”