Madrasat Addeera

AlUla’s first Arts and Design Centre

Building on the region’s long tradition of art, Madrasat Addera has become a beacon for the local community, where people are rediscovering the region’s traditional crafts, and reviving these once-forgotten techniques.

Community space

Originally the Old Girls’ School, it is now a thriving yet serene art and design space. During weekly workshops, you’ll find women busy stitching and embroidering cloth bags, crafting jewellery from metals like silver and gold, or weaving baskets, mats and trays from palm fronds. Elsewhere, women perch on stools sculpting pots and bowls from clay taken from AlUla’s own earth. These are then sold in AlUla’s Old Town Market, which helps support the local women and their families.

Workshops

Originally the Old Girls’ School, Madrasat Addeera is today a cornerstone of AlUla's bustling AlJadidah Arts District. While the core mission of this community project is to teach local women a range of traditional handicrafts, it also puts on weekly workshops so everyone can learn these skills. The workshops span all types of traditional arts, such as jewellery, embroidery and ceramics, including those historically found in AlUla. The workshops are run by the Turquoise Mountain Foundation, which was founded by King Charles III in 2006, whose aim is to revive traditional crafts to help support sustainable local economies.

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