Flint Culture has completed a seven-month Intangible Cultural Heritage Community-based Inventorying Project with the Royal Commission for AlUla, researching and documenting living heritage across AlUla, Tayma and Khaybar in Saudi Arabia.
The project contributes to RCU’s Intangible Cultural Heritage and Oral History Programme, established to safeguard, document and revitalise the region’s living heritage and ensure it remains a cornerstone of identity for future generations. Across the three oases, this heritage encompasses oral traditions, performing arts, social practices and rituals, knowledge concerning nature and the universe, and traditional craftsmanship.
Flint recruited nine RCU trained community researchers from across the region to undertake the fieldwork within their own communities. Together, they interviewed more than 186 practitioners, families and local experts and documented 77 living heritage elements.
Flint managed the research and documentation process, including researcher coordination, fieldwork management, translation and review of content development. The resulting body of documentation includes more than six hours of film, 770 photographs, 77 inventory forms and accompanying interview transcripts.
A bilingual publication in English and Arabic will be produced later this year, highlighting selected themes from the community based inventorying and their links to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Under the expertise of RCU’s ICH and Oral history programme, Flint is delivering the publication in-house, including concept development, documentation, copywriting, translation, English and Arabic editing, art direction and design.
