Among the works presented at the annual exhibition of the Department of Art Education at the College of Education, was a woven woollen textile inspired by camel imagery and the rhythms of Bedouin life. Drawing on elements of Omani heritage, the piece reflects both technical craftsmanship and cultural storytelling. In this brief dialogue, the student artist Abdulmalik bin Rashid Al-Jahwari discusses the inspiration, techniques, and meanings behind the work.

Your work features a woven woollen textile inspired by camels and Bedouin life. What motivated you to choose these motifs, and what aspects of Omani heritage were you hoping to highlight through this piece?

Since ancient times, Omani weavers, especially the Bedouins, have used textiles in many aspects of their daily lives. Every woven piece carried symbols with special meanings. Therefore, I wanted to preserve some of these symbols in my artwork. I also aimed to highlight an aspect of Omani heritage related to Bedouin life. I focused on traditional weaving characteristics such as horizontal lines, repeated geometric and animal motifs, and colours inspired by the desert environment, in order to present heritage in a contemporary artistic style.

Could you describe the techniques and materials you used to produce this work?
I used the traditional hand-weaving technique to create this work. It was woven on a rectangular wooden frame called a loom, which depends on the interlacing of warp and weft threads. I also used wool threads in different colours to create a beautiful colour variety in the artwork.

Many traditional motifs carry symbolic meanings. Do the camel and Bedouin elements in your design convey particular messages or stories?
Yes, of course. All symbols found in traditional Omani Bedouin fabric have meanings that reflect the nature of the desert. Some of these symbols were used, such as triangular patterns representing mountains and Bedouin tents. I also added sand dunes and mountains as symbols of the desert. In addition, I was also interested in choosing the common colours in Omani fabric, such as black, white, yellow and red.

How did your academic experience in the Department of Art Education influence the development of this project, from concept to final execution?
Through my experience in the department, I learned how to transform my ideas into preliminary drawings and then develop them technically by understanding the principles of composition, colour relationships, and visual balance, which helped me execute the work with precision and artistic awareness. In this practical material, we had many practical exercises to ensure that we learned how to make traditional hand weaving. The subject professor also introduced us to the history of this craft, its symbolic meanings, and many examples that provided strong visual inspiration and contributed greatly to the development of my artistic project.

As a student artist preparing to enter the field of education, how do you hope to use art and traditional crafts to inspire future generations?

I hope to use art and traditional crafts as a way to strengthen students’ connection to their cultural identity, so they can realise that heritage is not only the past, but also a living source of inspiration that can be developed and reinterpreted to become a creative artwork that expresses our strong Omani culture.