Rehaf Gassas is the heritage department director at the Saudi Heritage Preservation Society, where she manages and leads projects in the field of intangible cultural heritage.
She is a UNESCO-certified facilitator in the field of intangible cultural heritage management and has held several positions connected to this field.
Gassas was the senior specialist of intangible cultural heritage at the General Cultural Authority from 2018 to 2019, and the society’s head of project administration from 2014 to 2018, where she created a national inventory of intangible cultural heritage.
While working as an art teacher at Manarat Riyadh International School for Girls, she created a curriculum for art classes, and she was a project coordinator at the Reach 2 Change center for adults with ADHD from 2011 to 2012.
She holds a diploma in intangible cultural heritage management from Sharjah Institute For Heritage in the UAE, a master’s degree in world heritage and cultural project development from the University of Turin, and a bachelor’s degree in applied arts and design from the International Islamic University Malaysia.
She participated in several international events between 2016 and 2021, attending UNESCO sessions of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in different countries such as Ethiopia, South Korea, and Jamaica.
She has also participated in Saudi Cultural Days that have been held in London and New York, presenting talks about the traditional art of Al-Qatt Al-Asiri and its inscription as an intangible cultural heritage UNESCO element.
In 2016, she participated as a world heritage volunteer in excavating artifacts from Bahrain’s UNESCO site.
Last June, she was recognized as one of the top 20 young achievers under the age of 35 from across the Gulf region at the GOV Youth GCC Rising Stars 2021.