The Qasr Al Hosn 2022 programme has launched with a new exhibition and workshops. The latest exhibition, “Weaving Cultures, from Mexico to the UAE”, explores the dialogue between Emirati crafts and Mexican folk art. It highlights the similarities, differences, and shared threads between the two cultures through the lens of crafted and artistic creations.
Some of the most beautiful and cherished traditional Emirati crafts are Khoos, Telli, and Sadu. Skillfully handmade by local craftswomen, the Emirati crafts are sustained to our very day. “Khoos” is handwoven palm tree leaves traditionally used as home and dining mats and baskets. “Telli” is a braided metallic and silk thread used to adorn Emirati women’s clothes. “Sadu” is a hand-woven natural thread material traditionally used to make Bedouin tents.
The popular Mexican Folk Art, the art of her people, offers a colourful, kaleidoscopic image of a living, changing culture. It is bound up in everyday life, punctuated by festivals and religious ceremonies, created from materials at hand and inspired by function filtered through imagination.
The exhibition, organised in collaboration with the House of Artisans and the Fomento Cultural Citibanamex, A.C, is on display at the House of Artisans from 11 March until 23 June.
The Qasr al-Hosn is a historical landmark and the oldest stone building in Abu Dhabi. It was designed by Mohammed Al Bastaki and built in 1761. The Qasr al-Hosn is currently the subject of extensive historical, archaeological, and architectural research.
Transformed into a museum in 2018 following more than eleven years of intensive conservation and restoration work, Qasr Al Hosn is a national monument that encapsulates the development of Abu Dhabi from a settlement reliant on fishing and pearling in the 18th century, to a modern, global metropolis, with displays of artefacts and archival materials dating back to as far as 6000 BC.
For more information, please visit qasralhosn.ae
