Startup of the Week: Framed by Hams; Documenting precious memories

1 / 3
2 / 3
3 / 3
Short Url
Updated 20 April 2021
Follow

Startup of the Week: Framed by Hams; Documenting precious memories

  • What makes Framed by Hams unique is the company’s ability to customize items so each frame is different

JEDDAH: Motherhood is the most precious experience in any woman’s life. Every mother wants to document each special moment with her newborn, whether through photographs, videos, sketches or paintings.

New Saudi mother Hams Jambi thought of documenting her experiences in an innovative and artistic way: Custom-made nursery picture frames, with hand-drawn characters, shapes and plants, as well as registering the baby’s height and weight at birth, their date of birth and even the hour they were born.

The 25-year-old mother set up the company in early March, and her seven-month-old daughter Misk as her source of inspiration.

“Being a mom at this stage is what gave me this business idea. I was looking for something I couldn’t find in the market,” Jambi told Arab News.

“Giving birth and being a mother is an indescribable feeling — it is such a special experience that we want to materialize the memory and make it something tangible … That’s why we add all of the baby’s measurements, along with the timings,” she said.

Just like all mothers when they are expecting a baby, she started designing and decorating her child’s nursery. “When I was looking for pictures to frame, I didn’t find anything special, or … anything at all. Even Instagram businesses take pictures from online and print it on a canvas and sell it,” she said. “I wanted something different.”

She noticed two things that mothers were doing to decorate their newborn’s rooms: Either ordering art pieces from abroad, or simply printing from the internet.

“This is where the business idea came and I thought about making something special for each baby, and, of course, each mother wants something different and unique for her baby, different from (the) usual nursery decorations that almost everyone has,” she said.

What makes Framed by Hams unique is the company’s ability to customize items so each frame is different, with nothing repeated, unless the client asks for a specific design.

The new mother also expanded her target through providing a gift wrapping service for customers to buy the frames for friends or family members. “Our prices are affordable which makes it an even more convenient gift,” she added.

The startup has sold 12 frames so far, and is aiming to sell 200 by the end of the year. Keep up with Framed by Hams on Instagram (@framed_by_hams) where orders can be placed too.


Hafez Galley’s exhibition pays tribute to two Egyptian artists who shaped a visual era

Both artists emerged in an era when newspapers and magazines played a central role in shaping Egypt’s visual culture. (Supplied)
Updated 17 January 2026
Follow

Hafez Galley’s exhibition pays tribute to two Egyptian artists who shaped a visual era

  • Artworks by Attyat Sayed and El Dessouki Fahmi will be on display until Feb. 28

JEDDAH: Hafez Gallery in Jeddah has opened an exhibition showcasing the works of influential Egyptian artists Attyat Sayed and El Dessouki Fahmi. The exhibition runs until Feb. 28.

Kenza Zouari, international art fairs manager at the gallery, said the exhibition offers important context for Saudi audiences who are becoming increasingly engaged with Arab art histories.

Artworks by Attyat Sayed and El Dessouki Fahmi will be on display at Hafez Gallery until Feb. 28. (Supplied)

“Attyat Sayed and El Dessouki Fahmi’s decades-long practice in Cairo established foundational models for how artists across the region approach archives, press, and ultimately collective memory,” Zouari told Arab News. 

Both artists emerged in an era when newspapers and magazines played a central role in shaping Egypt’s visual culture. Their early work in press illustration “demanded speed, clarity, the ability to distill complex realities into a single, charged image,” the gallery’s website states.

Seeing the works of both artists side-by-side is breathtaking. It’s fascinating to witness how press illustration shaped such profound and lasting artistic voices.

Lina Al-Mutairi, Local art enthusias

Heba El-Moaz, director of artist liaison at Hafez Gallery, said that this is the second time that the exhibition — a posthumous tribute to the artists —has been shown, following its debut in Cairo.

“By placing their works side by side, it highlights how press illustration, often considered ephemeral, became a formative ground for artistic depth, narrative power, and lasting influence, while revealing two distinct yet deeply interconnected artistic paths within modern Egyptian visual culture,” she told Arab News. 

Artworks by Attyat Sayed and El Dessouki Fahmi will be on display at Hafez Gallery until Feb. 28. (Supplied)

Sayed’s work evolved from black-and-white illustration into “layered, dynamic compositions that translate lived emotion into physical gesture, echoing an ongoing negotiation between the inner world and its outward form,” the website states. Viewed together, the works of Sayed and Fahmi “reveal two distinct yet deeply interconnected artistic paths that contributed significantly to modern Egyptian visual culture.”

The exhibition “invites visitors into a compelling dialogue between instinct and intellect, emotion and structure, spontaneity and reflection; highlighting how artistic rigor, cultural memory, and sustained creative exploration were transformed into enduring visual languages that continue to resonate beyond their time,” the gallery states.

Lina Al-Mutairi, a Jeddah-based art enthusiast, said: “Seeing the works of both artists side-by-side is breathtaking. It’s fascinating to witness how press illustration shaped such profound and lasting artistic voices. The exhibition really brings their vision and influence to life.”