JEDDAH: In the previous, yearly at Eid Al-Adha, on the thirteenth of Dul Hijja, throughout the conventional “JoJo” Hijazi celebration the folks of Makkah acquired Saudi pilgrims with songs and folkloric chants to honor their completion of the Hajj rituals.
Throughout the years, methods of receiving pilgrims after the Hajj modified and the JoJo celebration nearly disappeared.
Atareek in Jeddah, positioned in Al-Tayebat International City of Science and Knowledge, Al-Faisaliyah District, goals to protect Saudi and Hijazi traditions celebrating the JoJo.
FASTFACTS
• The identify of JoJo is impressed by an Arabic phrase in a Hijazi accent, which interprets as ‘They have arrived.’ It is a part of a widely known folkloric chant that family and friends of pilgrims sing throughout the celebration.
• JoJo used to have fun kids who went for Hajj with their mother and father for the primary time, to encourage them and to introduce different children to the rituals of Hajj. Later on, the celebration was held for each pilgrims and their kids.
Shareefa Al-Sudairi, the founding father of Atareek, which has been working for greater than ten years, advised Arab News: “Through Atareek, we are trying to revive everything related to the Hijazi heritage and also to represent many cultures of the Kingdom from different regions to help the new generations discover and know about the beautiful traditions of their ancestors.”
The identify of JoJo is impressed by an Arabic phrase in a Hijazi accent, which interprets as “They have arrived.” It is a part of a widely known folkloric chant that family and friends of pilgrims sing throughout the celebration.
JoJo used to have fun kids who went for Hajj with their mother and father for the primary time, to encourage them and to introduce different children to the rituals of Hajj. Later on, the celebration was held for each pilgrims and their kids.
Al-Sudairi mentioned that one of many highlights of the celebration is when the place is full of kids’s laughter, JoJo chants, and candies.
“Pilgrims sit on the floor, and children gather around them, holding the tips of a sheet over pilgrims’ heads filled with the “noql” kind of outdated Hijazi candies.
“Then they start spinning around while chanting and holding the sheet, and then they finally strew candies all over the place and compete for who will collect more nogl than the other.” Al-Sudairi mentioned.
Nogl sweet consists of chickpeas, almonds, pistachios, walnuts, gums, cash and banknotes.
“What we have found during the ten years is that the Hijaz heritage is indeed international; it brings together different cultures linked to many countries,” she mentioned.
“Whenever guests come to Atareek from Morocco, Spain, Egypt, Palestine and other countries, they were able to spot many related cultural heritage elements that remind them of their countries,” Al-Sudairi mentioned.
Atareek is a museum, an artwork gallery, and a spot for celebrations-themed Hijazi folks tradition. It receives visits from faculties and vacationers from everywhere in the world, together with a number of embassies and consulates, as it’s thought-about a landmark accompanying the Abdul Raouf Khalil Museum.
It is characterised by genuine Hijazi heritage, together with a number of work on Hijaz themes corresponding to crafts, trades, Saudi espresso and Hajj caravans.
These work change all year long, gifted by Saudi artists from Abdul Raouf Khalil’s artwork studio. Many different vintage items courting again greater than 50 years have been donated by well-known Hijazi households to assist Atareek protect and revive Hijazi heritage.
The venue additionally options massive wood benches referred to as karweet and mirkaz, a kind of furnishings that’s not used because of the availability of many different comfy choices.
These benches are often adorned with “Arabesque,” a kind of historical Islamic artwork related to Islamic structure that includes intricate geometric varieties and which require skillful craftsmenship.
Atareek additionally goals to make clear the preferred Saudi dishes impressed by all areas of the Kingdom — corresponding to balila, mugalgal, mandi lamb, and Saudi white espresso — served throughout the JoJo celebration and on the primary days of Eid Al-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha.
Al-Sudairi mentioned: “Our utensils are all inspired by what our ancestors used to use, including copper utensils to provide the most authentic experience possible.”
Ninety years in the past, the buildings of the primary Saudi state had been lit by historical copper lanterns referred to as Atareek, which impressed the identify of the venue.
“The word Atareek means lanterns in a Hijazi accent. I gave it this name as the old lanterns are literally used for lightening here, where in the past the presence of these lanterns by the door of any home was used to indicate that there is a happy occasion taking place in that home,” Al-Sudairi mentioned.