JEDDAH, 3 June — It was with a heavy heart that a Japanese father-son duo left Jeddah last week. “Our first Jeddah experience has been more than satisfying and joyful for us because the center where we conducted our training program is dedicated to promote vocational training for the disabled,” Kenzo Jo told Arab News shortly before their return to Osaka.
“We found this an ideal venue to conduct our workshop, where we trained 30 instructors. We found the place an ideal one to share our hand weaving art. In fact, disabled persons are adept at picking up the art of weaving,” he said.
The venue was none other than the Help Center which held a Saori workshop conducted by Kenzo Jo, 57, and his 20-year-old son Tatsuya. The two were guests of Japanese Consul General Hajime Tanaki before flying back home.
Like Kenzo, his son shows his expertise in the art of Saori weaving. “I inherited the art from my mother, while my son grew up among weavers in the family,” Kenzo said.
What’s Saori? “The first two letters ‘sa’ are from my mother’s name Misao and ‘ori’ in Japanese means weaving. Saori is a hand weaving method invented by my mother Misao Jo,” Kenzo explains.
The weeklong workshop schedule conducted by the father-and-son team included lectures and demonstrations on Saori — including its philosophy, handling the loom, weaving, threading and tailoring. There was a presentation and exhibition of the art for parents of the disabled at the Help Center on the concluding day.
According to Kenzo, Saori is a contemporary hand-weaving program through which everyone can express himself or herself freely regardless of age, gender, handicaps or intellectual aptitude. In Japan, the Saori population exceeds 10,000. It is practiced at nearly 1,000 institutions for people with special needs. It is also introduced as an art form at schools and as a lifelong education program for adults.
The workshop was part of Very Special Arts-Saudi Arabia (VSA-KSA), which is administered and hosted by the Help Center. The VSA International-accredited VSA-KSA activities started in 1994. VSA-KSA, a non-profit organization, offers educational opportunities through the arts to people with disabilities, especially children.
Founded in 1974 by Jean Kennedy Smith as an affiliate of the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, the organization offers programs in creative writing, dance, drama, music and visual arts. These educational programs help people with disabilities develop learning skills, nurture independence and self-esteem, and enhance well-being in every area of life.
VSA-KSA has over the years undertaken three plans of activities. They included display of fine arts; a national festival involving full participation of centers from different parts of the Kingdom in drawing, pottery, weaving, needlework, theater, workshops and lectures; an Old Jeddah murals project — a paintings competition exemplifying the Old Jeddah culture; a story writing project; a second national festival entitled “Saudi heritage and ethnic arts”; and a performance day with the participation of different centers for the disabled and public schools to promote self-confidence among children.
Development of artistic talents focusing on the physically disabled, giving special emphasis to the use of wheel chair in creative expression, a sculpting competition for all centers for the disabled in Jeddah in which the winning sculpture was by a child from the Help Center, and a Jeddah sculpture project aimed at creating more sculptures to be displayed in Riyadh, Abha and Alkhobar have also been the projects undertaken since last year. The establishment of a sculpture site in Jeddah with the participation of artists from abroad is part of the project this year.
