MEDI1TV Afrique : #Chronique_culture du 04/04/2025 - 04/04/2025
Catégorie
🗞
NewsTranscription
00:00Welcome to Medea TV and we are heading to Saudi Arabia to talk about traditional hand-woven coats called Bichte.
00:16In particular, the story of the tailor Habib Mohamed, whose son Sinouk refused to resume his traditional coat sewing workshop.
00:24And to remedy this, Habib Mohamed began to teach sewing to his grandchildren in order to preserve the Saudi ancestral craftsmanship.
00:33In his workshop in the east of Saudi Arabia, Habib Mohamed, this 60-year-old tailor, makes traditional hand-woven Arab coats
00:42determined to defend this ancestral know-how against the mass production that floods the market.
00:48Faced with the competition of high-priced coats made in China, the tailor has a hard time surviving, but his owner refuses to give up.
00:56In his native region of Al-Ahsa, it was ill-seen for a man to go to a funeral, to the market, or to pay a visit to anyone without wearing the Bichte.
01:08This traditional garment became world famous during the World Cup in 2022,
01:13when the emir of Qatar put it on the shoulders of the Argentine champion Lionel Messi after the final.
01:19I suggest you listen to the tailor Habib Mohamed.
01:24I learned to sew from an early age. I was born in a sewing school. I grew up in the world.
01:31I learned to sew when I was little. I was born in my father's sewing workshop, and I grew up watching my mother sew.
01:38I saw my brothers and my cousins working with him in the workshop.
01:41Many women sewed with my mother. I was born seeing only Bichtes around me.
01:47At five years old, my father began to teach me.
01:50I was offered 200,000 riels for this Bichte, but I refused to sell it, because it represents all my life.
01:57It represents the history of my country, that of the province of Al-Ahsa and Saudi Arabia.
02:02I will never sell Bichtes like this. I want to pass them on to my children and grandchildren, and I will ask them never to sell them.
02:12I will not sell them at all. God willing, after a long time, I will pass them on to my children and grandchildren.
02:19I advise them not to sell them at all.
02:22If the Bichte is often worn in the region, especially during the big occasions,
02:28industrial manufacturing has taken the place of many artisanal workshops.
02:32Habib Mohamed counts on his nine-year-old daughter, Fajr, and his ten-year-old brother, Rasen, to carry on this tradition.
02:40Dressed in white abaya and the traditional red and white suit, he says he has always been surrounded by Bichtes.
02:47But the family shop, located in the traditional market of Hufuf, now brings much less plates without an owner.
02:55The production of Bichtes, which the Gulf countries seek to inscribe in the intangible heritage of the humanity of UNESCO,
03:02is among the ten professions highlighted by the Saudi authorities as part of the year of craftsmanship,
03:08decreed this year 2025.
03:11Each region of the kingdom has traditional clothing that characterizes it.
03:15In the region of Diriyah, the Bichte al-Barka and al-Mu'assama are among the most popular outfits.
03:22The Bichte, the traditional costume, has not undergone any external influence.
03:27The lines that characterize the abaya or the Bichte are the same for women and men.
03:32However, a embroidery called Mu'assama wreaths the shoulders of the Bichtes for women.
03:38We listen again to Mohamed Habib.
03:41A kind of recession has taken place. Foreign workers have arrived and resumed this profession.
03:53So we stopped working.
03:55Pieces that I made for 1,500 riyals now cost 150.
04:00And I just accepted to continue working.
04:03We did not give up and we continued to work.
04:06We train young people to revive this ancient heritage in the face of disappearance.
04:12And we will revive it with pride and honor.
04:19And we stay in Saudi Arabia to talk to you about music,
04:22and in particular about the Sira training of rockers who revolutionize the Saudi scene.
04:29They are four, they are Saudi, they are revolutionizing the music scene with their electric sound,
04:35their powerful lyrics and their innovative proposals in a sector traditionally dominated by men.
04:41The psychedelic rock band Sira, which means travel, is one of the faces of the new artistic wave.
04:47It is via Instagram that the singer and pianist Nora, the bassist Mish, the guitarist Haya and the drummer Tink met.
04:56Their first album, released in December 2024, Al Mujallad Al Awal, Volume 1,
05:01is a superb example of a fusion between cultural roots and modern musical influence,
05:06which they also embody in their look.
05:08With inspirations as varied as Beethoven or the Turkish psyche band Altin Gun,
05:14Sira explores melody and rhythm in a free approach.
05:18The band was produced on the scene of the great Saudi festival Soundstorm last December
05:23and is now planning to tour the world.
05:26I suggest you listen to this excerpt.
06:01Thank you dear viewers for your loyalty and the information continues on our different channels
06:30Arabic Media TV, African Media TV, Maghreb Media TV and of course on our digital media medianews.com
07:00Arabic Media TV