Embroidered bridal jacket from the Asir, Southwest Saudi Arabia (TRC 2006.0041).Well, I have just come back from a 6-day trip to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at the kind invitation of the Saudi Heritage Preservation Society. I gave a workshop on the history of embroidery from around the world to a large group of Saudi women and talked with various specialists about the role and types of embroidery in Saudi Arabia.

It is very clear that the love of embroidery is very deep in the ‘Kingdom’ and they have a long and vary varied tradition of this technique. It is literally one of the hidden gems of Saudi life! There are various groups recording the many forms of embroidery to be found throughout this vast country. At the moment this information is only available in Arabic, however they are actively translating the books into English. We will let you know when they appear, as these volumes will be worth having in any embroidery library.

Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, 21 April 2014