Handicrafts Award 2025…a cultural bet on knowledge to protect and sustain heritage

In light of the rapid cultural and economic transformations taking place in Saudi society, Handcrafts as one of the most sensitive and important areas of heritage, due to its connection to collective memory on the one hand, and its need for development and renewal on the other hand.

Craft is no longer reduced to being a professional practice or a productive skill, but rather has come to represent an integrated knowledge system that is passed down through generations, and carries within it multiple social, cultural and economic dimensions.

With the declaration of the year 2025 as For handicrafts In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the “Handicrafts Award” came within the fifth edition of the “National Cultural Awards 2025” initiative as one of the tools supporting the preservation of this legacy. The award was distinguished by its orientation towards honoring researchers and authors specialized in documenting and studying crafts, which reflects a growing awareness of the importance of the knowledge dimension in the sustainability of this sector.

The introduction of the award is a qualitative step that returns handicrafts to its basic foundation based on Knowledge, where the craft begins with documentation and study before it reaches the final product.

This knowledge includes manuscripts, oral narratives, and ancient market records, in addition to books and research that dealt with craft tools, materials, and stages of development, and analyzed their relationship with society, the economy, and Arts.

From this standpoint, the award focused on the fields of writing, research and documentation, to highlight the scientific aspects that are often hidden behind the apparent aesthetics of the craft product.

This trend reflects a growing understanding that the continuity of handicrafts is not achieved through practice alone, but rather requires a knowledge base that explains their origins, documents their historical paths, and provides references that enable future generations to develop and innovate in them.

And while it is possible Repeating the product, scientific knowledge remains the true guarantor of the sustainability of the craft, giving it value that goes beyond use to touch cultural identity.

The award comes within a broader cultural context witnessed by the Year of Handicrafts 2025, which aims to reread the Saudi craft heritage with a more modern and conscious vision. By supporting researchers and authors, the award contributes to enhancing knowledge production, consolidating the status of crafts as part of the creative economy system, and opening new horizons for their development and moving them from the traditional framework to more advanced industrial horizons.

The importance of this path is evident in the growth of specialized studies that address raw materials, manufacturing methods, and the historical transformations that crafts have undergone, and their relationship with the local community and the general cultural scene.

These studies are not limited to Documentation, but rather represents a practical reference that helps craftsmen, designers and entrepreneurs develop contemporary products based on a deep understanding of origins.

The award, as an annual recognition platform, also gives greater moral momentum to researchers and knowledge makers in this field, and contributes to highlighting research work that may not receive sufficient attention without this support.

This would encourage universities and academic institutions to include handicrafts within the fields of scientific research, and to deal with them as a subject. Knowledge worthy of study and development, not just as a traditional activity.

The objectives of the “Handicrafts Award” are consistent with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030, which made cultural heritage one of the pillars of development, and viewed it as an economic and cultural value that can be developed through innovation and knowledge. Thus, the award represents a practical translation of the vision, moving crafts from the stage of preservation to conscious investment, and from repetition to thoughtful renewal.

In general, the award confirms that the future of handicrafts is not shaped in workshops alone, but is also shaped in references, libraries, and research centers, where knowledge lays the foundation from which the craft begins before it is embodied in the hands of the craftsman.