Applications are now open!
The Programme
The Design & Craft Vocational Training Programme is a one-year course of study of integrated design and craft modules.
The Programme teaches design and craft application in a fully integrated way, enabling you to develop as both designer and maker. An intensive programme that offers the unique opportunity for you to learn and gain inspiration from the philosophy “we are nature”, go deeper into sourcing local materials and design and make products reflecting the environment of AlUla through creative & contemporary means of expression.
The course benefits local artists & craftspeople by increasing critical analysis, design development, design applications and craftsmanship.
On the course you will learn:
• Design principles through the study of Geometry
• Colour making processes using local rocks and earth
• Stone Carving techniques
• Palm-Frond Weaving techniques
• Wool Felting and Weaving with Natural Fibers
• Embroidery with Natural Dyes
• Wood Carving
• Product design development
The course is delivered by the Prince’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts in London; bringing teachers from across Saudi Arabia and internationally, giving great variety of knowledge and expertise. Students on the programme will also engage with the other activities at the School in AlUla, such as exhibitions and public programmes.
The academic year will complete with an end-of-year review of all modules. On completion of the course, graduates will receive a Certificate from the Prince's Foundation School of Traditional Arts.
After the completion of the one-year programme, invited graduates will have the opportunity to be selected to train further in the Prince's Foundation School of Traditional Arts Design and Production Studios and form a young team of local designers and makers.
The programme will:
• Enhance awareness of the beauty and richness of AlUla’s natural and cultural heritage.
• Give a solid foundation in traditional arts and crafts.
• Teach principles of design rooted in on the Order of Nature and found in traditional arts and crafts.
• Inspire the creation of locally relevant artworks and products.
• Establish a culture of community that is grounded in universal principles and is expressed through the unique way that learning, making and teaching are conducted at the School of Traditional Arts;
The Order of Nature
AlUla is an area of natural beauty which contains some of the most significant and cultural historic sites in Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia wishes to preserve and enhance the natural, historic and cultural heritage of AlUla. It values art and creativity as vital contributors to the region, building on its unique beauty and adding to the quality of life of the local community and economy.
AlUla’s beauty is both hidden and revealed and offers intriguing contrasts that provide inspiration for artists and craftspeople - flat desert plains dotted with rock formations elaborately carved by the Nabateans and containing hidden stories and skilled craftsmanship; exotic desert plants and flowers aligned perfectly in their hidden symmetries and structures and offering a visual aesthetic as well as practical resources to the local community; the bright night sky unaffected by artificial light behind which lay beautifully hidden patterns created by planetary movements - all are governed by the order of nature principles. This order underlies the entire cosmos and is also hidden and revealed within us.
AlUla’s natural beauty and underlying harmony and order will provide creative inspiration for the development of art and craft products unique to AlUla, so that visitors and the local community alike will be inspired to reconnect with the principle “we are nature” and to respect and preserve the beauty and harmony of AlUla.
