Jameel House of World Traditional Arts to be established at Dumfries House
Journal – 03.10.2024
The King’s Foundation and Community Jameel have announced the establishment of the Jameel House of World Traditional Arts in Scotland, a new global centre for international artisans, craftspeople and students to learn and practise the traditional arts.
With a year-round programme of workshops, short courses and residencies led by The King’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts, the centre will welcome students from all levels of expertise and from around the world to master practices ranging from sacred geometry and colour harmony to woodwork and gypsum carving.
The launch was marked with a special tapestry presentation at Dumfries House. Mohammed Jameel KBE, founder and chairman of Community Jameel, and Hassan Jameel, vice chairman of Community Jameel, presented an embroidered quilt by Fumiko Nakayama to His Majesty The King, Royal Founding President of The King’s Foundation, which was accepted on behalf of The King’s Foundation by Kristina Murrin CBE, CEO. Hand-stitched using the traditional mola appliqué technique of the Guna people from Panamá, the quilt will be hung in the Jameel House of World Traditional Arts in Scotland.
The new centre in Scotland is the latest addition to a network of Jameel Houses established by Community Jameel and The King’s Foundation worldwide. In 2008, the Jameel House in Cairo was opened to sustain the practice of traditional arts in Egypt. Today more than 200 Egyptian artists and craftspeople have graduated from the two-year programme delivered by The King’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts.
From 2015 to 2021, Community Jameel and The King’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts partnered on the Jameel House in Jeddah, a centre pioneering traditional arts education in Saudi Arabia. Today, The King’s Foundation continues to deliver programmes in Saudi Arabia in AlUla and at The Royal Institute for Traditional Arts in Jeddah, in collaboration with the Saudi Ministry of Culture.
The Jameel House in Scotland is set to open its doors in 2025. Graduates from the Jameel Houses in Cairo and Jeddah are among those expected to study at the new global centre in Scotland.
To expand their support for Arab students of traditional arts, The King’s Foundation and Community Jameel also announced a new Jameel House Scholarship at The King’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts. Open to citizens of Arab countries and launching in 2025, the scholarship will provide financial aid to students enrolled in the various programmes at the Jameel Houses in Cairo and Scotland, the main London campus of The King’s Foundation School and future activities of the Jameel House in Jeddah.
