The sounds and the display took viewers back to the past in Hejaz, to a time when life was certainly simpler and, some say, more charming for people in Makkah and Madinah. It was a journey in time that filled the old as well as the young in the audience with a longing for, and appreciation of, our traditions. Dar Al-Hekma College for Girls organized a one-day exhibition entitled “The Heritage of the Hejaz” on Jan. 3 in its auditorium. The event was a project for a sociology class dealing with marriage, the family and society. The course instructor, Dr. Chaman Rahim, and 76 students worked after class twice a week for a month in researching, setting up and putting together the photo exhibition and a play illustrating the social life of children and adults in the Hejaz. The exhibition included pictures of old Hejazi buildings with the traditional wooden windows (roshan), jewelry, customs and household items.
The play was accompanied by live music performed by a four-woman band dressed in traditional white Hejazi clothing; they played on big tambours and sang old songs. The play dealt with the different stages of women’s lives, beginning with children in the nursery doing traditional things such as jumping rope and playing with sea shells and marbles together while singing old children’s songs. Next the children have grown up and in scene two, we see an afternoon tea gathering with young and old women dressed in traditional long colorful dresses. The stage set is a traditional living room where the women sit, talking and enjoying their tea. The items on stage were loaned by various individuals. Throughout the play, a narrator describes the setting, the clothes and traditions involved in the scene.
The next scene is that of a ghumra, the henna night for the bride before the wedding. The “henna lady” draws with henna on the bride’s hands and her female relatives and friends sing and dance around her. Then there is a scene featuring a wedding in Madinah in which the bride steps on chairs leading up to the raised pavilion, decorated with flowers and bright fabrics, where the bride and groom sit. Then there was a scene at a rahmani, the celebration of the seventh day after a baby’s birth and finally a scene with children playing again.
The students who participated in researching and presenting the exhibition and the play felt a connection with their past and appreciated the traditions. “Because of the project, I know things about our heritage I didn’t know before,” said Mayan Al-Omair. To understand and learn additional details, Reem Ajlan said that the project provided her with the opportunity to spend more time with her grandmother.