Ayla and Princess Basma Center for Development Launch the “My Craft” Project to Revive National Heritage and Folklore in Aqaba

Ayla Oasis Development Company, in partnership with the Princess Basma Center for Development in Aqaba (Jordan Hashemite Fund – JOHD), has launched the “My Craft” project. It is specialized in reviving the Aqaba heritage by producing handicrafts and embroidery that reflect the cultural and civilizational heritage of Aqaba with the cooperation of “Ayla” in marketing them to the tourism movement.  Ayla provides support in several axes to the Princess Basma Center for Development in Aqaba to implement the requirements of the “My Craft” project, which aims to produce handicrafts that highlight the heritage, history, culture, and historical periods of the region. It also reflects Aqaba’s unique natural environment. Eng. Sahel Doudin, CEO of Ayla Oasis Development Company, said: “Today, we celebrate our cultural heritage, local culture, and our Jordanian folklore. It is one of the pillars of our social responsibility strategy that contributes to highlighting and promoting the national heritage. We contribute to highlighting the capabilities of the talented women of Aqaba, marketing them in Ayla, and providing ways to support and promote them.”

Eng. Doudin considered “My Craft” as new horizons of cooperation with Princess Basma Center after a long partnership journey in the field of training, rehabilitation, and economic and social empowerment for a wide range of local community women. So that, the two sides have achieved pioneering success stories. In turn, the director of the Princess Basma Center in Aqaba, Fatima Al-Hanawi, indicated that “My Craft” is working to rehabilitate and empower 15 women and girls in the tourism sewing sector this year. It is also producing pieces that express the city’s heritage, contributing to improving the income of participants in training courses, empowering them as economically productive women and supplying the tourism market with new products”

The “My Craft” project sheds the light on the cultural heritage and inheritance in handicraft pieces of art that are chronicled in the region by focusing on the lines and inscriptions of the city of Ayla in various historical periods and reproducing the tools, ceramics, and clothes that were used at that time again. ​It will focus on themes based on the sewing workshop and the embroidery unit, which include designing old and traditional clothes, documenting them, introducing modern designs using inscriptions and decorating clothes, and displaying them in the “Johd Al-Ayadi” market. In addition, it focuses on the production of artistic paintings using embroidery that expresses the stories of the old castle and the ancient incense road. The components of the natural environment in the production of art pieces, such as wallets, seating mats, and household supplies, are used.