JEDDAH, 17 May 2008 — A young Saudi woman has taken a major step to help and support Saudi youth by creating a project, which she says is a “strategic solution for unemployment.”
Amal Al-Jibreen, founder of Rahalah, said that she and her team — in an effort to turn people’s hobbies into professions — are organizing five annual exhibitions and contests where talented Saudi youth can exhibit their creativity.
She told Arab News that the contest and exhibition would each year cover a certain region of the Kingdom, beginning with the Central Region. “The exhibition can be about anything. The contest this year is about creativity inspired from the Central Region,” she said.
This year’s event is to be held on June 1-3 at the Jeddah International Exhibitions Center, and will have 150 booths. Amal said that the booths would be given to exhibitors for a minimal fee. “If someone cannot afford to buy space, we would find him or her a sponsor,” she said.
The contest, entitled Bandar Al-Jibreen Award for Achievement, is named after Al-Jibreen’s late father. “To enter the contest one needs to present a piece of work, of any type, that takes its inspiration from the Najd region,” said Al-Jibreen.
The first prize winner will be awarded a golden compass and SR75,000, second prize winner will be awarded a silver compass and SR50,000, and the third prize winner will be awarded a bronze compass and SR25,000, she said.
The exhibition is open to men and women, and will showcase works relating to fashion, design, decorations, poetry, writing, photography, films, graphic designs, cartoons, cooking, calligraphy, painting, sewing and other hobbies.
Al-Jibreen said that Rahalah, which was officially launched in January, is a company run by Saudi women to eradicate unemployment and support Saudi youth.
“Our mission is to develop a flexible marketing formula that can turn each hobby into a profession and each profession into an industry,” she said. She added that Rahalah is working on creating a network of people stretching from amateur hobbyists to industry owners and decision makers.
She added that after covering the Kingdom, the event would be introduced into the Gulf region for five-years, and then the Arab world and beyond.
“We are trying to contribute in a global way. We are also looking at exporting peace through art,” Al-Jibreen said.
