Emirati Jewellery Pioneer Azza Al Qubaisi on Crossing Gulf Borders

In Saudi Arabia, Emirati artist and designer Azza Al Qubaisi, widely regarded as the UAE’s first fine jewellery artist and a leading figure in contemporary craft, has recently undertaken an art residency that deepens her long-standing engagement with material, heritage, and sustainability. The residency, part of the Khoos Initiative in Al-Ahsa and Ithra, brings together makers and designers working with palm-based materials and traditional fibre-crafts.
“When I began my jewellery practice,” she recalls, “there was no roadmap; no gallery system, no clear market for contemporary Emirati design.” The language Azza helped develop has since matured into a body of work that spans fine jewellery, sculpture, and installation, each bound by a constant principle she calls storytelling through form. A process about correspondence between land and hand, between surface and story.
Much of her vocabulary draws from Emirati symbols: palm fronds, coins, nose clips, Arabic calligraphy. “I don’t see heritage and contemporary design as opposites,” she says. “I treat traditional forms and symbols as living materials, something to listen to, question, and reinterpret. It’s about evolving tradition, not preserving it in a glass box.” Metals coexist with found objects; silver and corten steel are joined by palm wood, rubber, and fibre. “Material holds memory,” she explains. “The feel of raw silver, the patina of steel, the grain of palm wood, each tells its own story.” This language came into full relief in her 2022 exhibition Between the Dune Lines, where mild steel and palm leaves formed abstract topographies that echoed the desert. “The desert is not empty,” she once said. “It’s full of wisdom. Its silence teaches patience and hold centuries of movement.”
For Al Qubaisi, jewellery has always been a form of sculpture, and craft a mode of research. “My pieces are intimate sculptures,” she says. “They carry emotion, history, texture, and thought. Some feel sacred and some spark conversation.”  Her current work in Saudi Arabia situates that same logic within the palm-weaving environment of the Khoos Initiative. Here, she encounters new textures and techniques that reconnect her metalwork with fibre traditions. 
Throughout, Al Qubaisi’s practice is guided by what she calls responsibility: “To material, to craft, to community.” Sustainability, to her, is an ethical rhythm rather than a fashionable term. “I use recycled metals when possible, and I often incorporate natural or found materials,” she explains. This care extends beyond the studio into mentorship. “Mentorship, to me, is about listening, not instructing. It’s about creating space for others to find their voice.”
That attentiveness to others mirrors her awareness of the broader craft ecosystem. “There’s more pride now,” she says of Emirati craftsmanship. “More recognition that our techniques, motifs, and materials carry value not just culturally, but artistically and commercially.” Her advocacy for local production has helped transform “Made in the UAE” from a statement of origin into a mark of integrity.
In Saudi Arabia, the residency amplifies this cross-Gulf dialogue. Palm weaving becomes a shared language between two cultures that have long looked to the same desert horizon. The Khoos programme describes palm-craft as a “living cultural symbol that continuously evolves,” and Al Qubaisi’s work embodies that principle. “I’m not here to freeze culture in time,” she says. “I want to let it breathe, stretch, transform.” Asked what her jewellery would say to the next generation of Arab designers, she answers: “Know where you come from, but don’t be afraid to redraw the map. Trust your hands. Trust your history. And always create from a place of meaning, not just market.”