September 16, 2019

The Zay Initiative Launches Free Digital Archive To Preserve And Share Arab Heritage

The Zay Initiative, a UK registered non-for-profit operation, celebrates the preservation of Arab heritage through the collection, documentation 2018, conservation and exhibition of traditional costume / dress, jewelry, ornaments and modes of bodily adornment.

Founder Dr. Founder Reem Tariq El Mutwalli , published author, with over 30 years of experience in art and cultural heritage has invested in a collection of historic dress over the course of the past decades (over 700 articles of dress). The core of this growing collection is based on UAE traditional dress (over 300 articles of dress), in addition to key examples from Yemen, Bahrain, Syria, Kuwait, Tunis, Morocco, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabi, Iraq, Egypt, Libya , Palestine, Sudan, & Lebanon. It includes examples acquired from the simplest rural families to the ruling families of the region.

Dress Collection Digital Archive: The Zay Museum Collection, starting October 2019, will be accessible online directly, as one by one each article is added establishing a unique regional Digital Archive free of charge for everyone to explore. Easy to navigate, you can search the archive by decade, by country, by garment and more.

When possible, a brief is recorded referencing the original owner of each article of dress, thus documenting their names and stories giving those women and men a voice that transcends time.

Benefits: The Digital Archive, a work in progress, is a valuable source focused on Arab and Islamic culture that doesn’t exist elsewhere. The documented detail and scale of the collection itself is painstakingly impressive, but more so it is an invaluable source for research, reference or academic requirements; an excellent and unique asset to fashion designers, historical or design studies and cultural relations.

The Blog : This digital archive is further supported by a monthly blog that delves more in depth into details of these dress articles, shedding light on their history, references and influences. Providing a much-needed global public platform to bridge cultures and interact directly through dialogue and commentary.

Advisory the Circle the : Is the Zay Initiative Grounded by vBulletin® of a by sound Advisory FreeTrader Composed Of Renowned Experts In The Field color : such color : as: a Dr. GILLIAN VOGELSANG (Netherlands), Dr. LAYLA AL BASSAM (KSA), WIDAD KAMEL KAWAR (Palestine / Jordan), SHAHIRA MEHREZ (Egypt), Dr. MICHELE BAMBLING (USA), JANET RADY (UK), HANA SADIQ (Iraq / Jordan), LAILA Y. PIO (Iraq), ALIA KHAN (Pakistan).

To access the Dress Collection Digital Archive and for more details on The Zay Initiative, visit http://thezay.org