Muscat: There were 24,000 artisans in Oman till the end of 2020 and 88 percent of them were females. With 14 of the vocations common to all the governorates, the Sultanate possess a wide range of crafts industries.
Cotton weaving is one of the most practiced Omani crafts industries, with more than 7,674 craftsmen and women actively engaged in the industry. The least practiced is ‘crafting musical instruments’, with only 20 taking it as a profession.
The country will celebrate Omani Artisans Day today, which falls on March 3 every year.
Eng. Ibrahim Said Al Kharousi, Heritage Under-Secretary at the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, said that the celebration of the event this year reaffirms the significance of initiatives made to support contributions to the national crafts industries sector.
Such contributions target enhancing artisans’ sources of income, due to the fact that crafts industries serve as focal components that countries seek to conserve, said Al Kharousi, who underscored crafts’ importance in developing social and economic projects.
“This is in addition to their effective role in providing society with highly prized and artistic products carrying symbolic values that enhance the national identity,” Al Kharousi explained.
He pointed out that crafts industries contribute human communication among nations sharing cultural diversity.
Al-Kharousi added that the Sultanate’s celebration of the event furnishes a context for protecting typical crafts industries, developing them, promoting and marketing their products within the Sultanate and abroad—a mission entrusted to the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism under Royal Decree No. 91/2020.
Haleema Rashid Al-Zar’ei, Chairperson of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority, said that the number of artisans in the Sultanate till the end of 2020 stood at 24,000, 88 percent of them are female.
At the governorates level, the number of male and female artisan in the Governorate of Dhofar stood at 7,247, followed by the Governorate of North Al Sharqiyah with 5,454, the Governorate of North Al Batinah with 3,534, the Governorate of Al Dhakiliyah with 2,148, the Governorate of Al Wusta with 1,534, the Governorate of South Al Batinah with 1,357 and the Governorate of South Al Sharqiyah with 1,186.
“Meanwhile, the number of artisans in the Governorate of Muscat stood at 608, followed by the Governorate of Al Dhahira with 482, the Governorate of Musandam with 405 and the Governorate of Al Buraimi with 236,” she added.
