Young designers connect with old traditions, crafts for the 2021 Piaget Design Competition at AlUla

The Old Town of AlUla is a labyrinth of 900 mudhouses that date back to the 12th century.

There could not have been a prettier design ensemble: An ancient city in the Arabian Peninsula, a 147-year-old Swiss watch/jewellery company, and a bunch of 12 young designers eager to create jewellery that narrates the tale of the old land with technical finesse.

It was in AlUla, a Saudi Arabian city that once sat at the crossroads of The Silk Road and The Incense Route, that Geneva-headquartered Piaget decided to hold its 2021 Piaget Design Competition.

For the past nine years, Piaget has worked with HEAD–Genève (Geneva University of Art and Design) on initiatives recognising and fostering the creativity of students from around the world. In 2021, the Piaget Design Competition came to Madrasat Addeera in AlUla to support and invest in the artisanal talent of Saudi Arabia’s next generation of creatives.

This handpicked bunch of 12 next-gen talent included a 20-year old with no experience in craft; one with a degree in mathematics; another with a passion for hiking and a degree in language and translation; and one who would go camping with her father in AlUla and collect stones.

With diverse backgrounds and experiences, their design inspiration came from unusual places. Not the usual dainty paisleys, jewelled crescents or the intricate pomegranates. Instead, they dug deep into the heart of a fig, hunched over the traditional Arabian weave of the palm leaves and borrowed from the beautiful rocky outcrops that emerge from the desert’s expanse, ochre-streaked sandstone canyons, lunar plateaus of black volcanic stone and massive rocks of AlUla that were  chiselled by the wind into works of art such as the now-iconic Elephant Rock.

(Photo by Pteropus conspicillatus via Wikimedia Commons 3.0)

Each student involved in the Piaget Design Competition programme received ongoing mentoring from the professors from HEAD–Genève. They were also paired with students from HEAD–Genève, who provided additional mentoring throughout the design process to help take their skills and designs to the next level.

At the end of a gruelling programme, the winning entries of Aysha Musa Al Shalali, Ashwaq Saud, and Raghad Ayman Arafah were chosen for their poetic sense of design, for demonstrating the skills learned throughout the mentoring process, and for the quality in which their creations reflected the natural beauty and landscape of AlUla.

Al Shalali was lauded for her sense of storytelling through design, and the way in which she formed a representation of her family and culture through her work.

A necklace designed by Aysha Musa Al Shalali, winner of Piaget Design Competition 2021.

In second place, Ahwaq Saud had crafted a graphic, contemporary interpretation of iconic date palms while Raghad Ayman Arafah, in third place, was praised in particular for contrasting textures between the set stones and surrounding metal. Each of the three winners received special awards from Piaget.

Second-place winner Ahwaq Saud was lauded by the judges for the contemporary interpretation of date palms.

“Since I was little, I always saw my mother making jewellery using very simple tools, which inspired me. Our designs are inspired from AlUla’s heritage and we use traditional motifs and patterns,” said first prize winner Al Shalali, 28, who holds a degree in mathematics, a diploma in tourism and hospitality, and also runs an abaya (full-length robe for women) business.

Daughter of an artist in AlUla, third prize winner Raghad Ayman Arafah is a recent graduate from Taibah University with a degree in fashion and jewellery design. She says, “I have very smart hands – they remember everything. I used to cut my old jewellery pieces and remake them with my own designs. One day my mother saw my work and she was so proud. She was the first one to tell me that I could become a professional designer one day.”

Third prize winner Raghad Ayman Arafah’s Sun-Mountain charm inspired by the rocky outcrops of AlUla.

“The Piaget competition has been a phenomenal opportunity for the local students to access the creative talent of a world-leading luxury jeweller. The initiative aligns perfectly with the Saudi Vision 2030 and Royal Commission for AlUla’s (RCU) recently launched Journey Through Time Masterplan. We intend to create a community of engaged, skilled, inspired locals who will be part of the authentic AlUla story,” said Nora A Aldabal, Arts and Culture Programming Director at RCU.

This is not the first time that the ancient city of AlUla has served as a backdrop for modern design initiatives. In May this year, when Adidas Originals and Saudi designer Arwa Al Banawi came together to reinterpret the iconic Forum silhouette, the new-design sneaker was launched in AlUla. Banawi’s sneaker design that melded Eastern and Western influences was also mirrored with a contemporary art installation in AlUla.

The city of AlUla is located nearly 1,100 kilometres from Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. Its most well-known site is Hegra, the country’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Old Town of AlUla is a labyrinth of 900 mudhouses that date back to the 12th century.

For a 360 degree-view of AlUla, visit www.experiencealula.com