RIYADH: Award-winning artist Sultan Al-Mrshood — who is currently presenting his work at the Saudi Feast Food Festival — has mastered the art of sculpting hyper-realistic representations of nature from wood, inspired by his childhood living on a farm.

Al-Mrshood has a booth at the festival’s Olive Exhibition — showcasing the fruit’s use as food and cosmetics — where he says his artwork often has admirers gathering for long periods.

The sculptor has an assortment of work on display including an eagle, a wooden cane entwined by a snake, and several handcrafted rosaries made from coconut wood, and the pits of olives and dates.

Al-Mrshood has crafted three snake canes, with each taking about three months to complete. He sold the latest one, facilitated by the Ministry of Culture at the festival, for SR30,000 ($8,000). Seven years ago, Al-Mrshood sold a cane to Prince Sultan bin Salman who gifted it to Bahrain’s foreign minister at the time, Khalid bin Ahmad Al-Khalifa.

“Each of my pieces is mixed with an event or ancient history in Saudi civilization … the snake (cane), which embodies the story of the staff of Moses, is the secret of my fame and was sold to Prince Sultan bin Salman,” he noted.

He has also sold one to a well-known cane collector in Al-Qassim province.

Al-Mrshood previously won third place for his wood sculptures in a Souq Okaz competition. Souq Okaz is a part of Taif Season which showcases Arab culture through food, art and goods from the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia.

Al-Mrshood says that he has received positive feedback from the community on his snake canes. “It is classified as one of the rarest canes found in Saudi Arabia … The fact that there are not many sculptors in Saudi Arabia makes it very important and relevant. All the visitors’ responses are admiration and amazement.”

He is inspired by images of a farm in Buraidah where he was raised. “I lived part of my life on a simple farm. My childhood at the farm was filled with adventures and I would always play with the wooden sticks and create shapes out of them. I would try to make masterpieces out of whatever was around me even though I didn’t know I would be an artist.”

“I have been an artist since childhood, and I was a painter before I was a sculptor. The art of sculpture is a complex process that relies on geometry, imagination, sculpting skill, and the use of many methods.”

Al-Mrshood says he is inspired when in “a mixture of calm solitude, meditation, and walking.”

He currently works at the Ministry of Culture as an instructor, passing on his knowledge to young Saudis through wood carving classes.

On challenges he faces as a wood sculptor, Al-Mrshood noted the “lack of availability to purchase manual machines to help me work accurately and quickly.”

While he caters for a niche market, which has its difficulties, there is also the appeal of its exclusivity. “If there are many wood carvers in Saudi Arabia, the price would decrease, but since the number of wood carvers in Saudi Arabia is very low, the prices of our handcrafted producers increase. This makes individuals like us very important and valued.”

RIYADH: A new body to monitor aviation safety in the Middle East and North Africa region was on Wednesday unveiled at an international industry conference being held in Riyadh.

Abdulaziz Al-Duailj, president of the Saudi General Civil Aviation Authority, inaugurated the new MENA Regional Safety Oversight Organization — which will be based in Riyadh — during a ceremony as part of the 15th International Civil Aviation Organization meeting.

A memorandum of agreement was later signed by representatives of MENA-RSOO member states including Saudi Arabia, Djibouti, Sudan, Somalia, Palestine, Libya, Mauritania, and Yemen.

The new organization will aim to help develop and implement national training and safety programs, improve the monitoring of air safety, and work with nations to meet aviation safety standards.

In a speech, Al-Duailj said: “The establishment of the new organization will be a milestone for all its member states and is also a testimony to their commitment to aviation safety, quality, and efficiency.

“This step confirms the Kingdom’s keenness and commitment to aviation safety through its continued cooperation with international partners, to ensure the highest standards of air safety are achieved,” he added.

Al-Duailj noted that the ICAO wanted to see unified safety standards and the integration of technology throughout the civil aviation industry, especially regarding the design of aircraft engines, autonomous control, remotely piloted service aircraft, personal transportation via air taxis, and the overall performance of the air traffic network.

On Saudi Arabia’s financial contribution toward the setting up of the MENA-RSOO, he said: “Through this, the Kingdom aims to activate the role of this organization and support it with an amount of $1.5 million for the first two years of its establishment, in order for the organization to carry out its tasks and responsibilities in supporting air safety programs in our region.

“It also aims to assist member states in strengthening and raising the legislative and supervisory capabilities of their national air safety systems, enabling them to achieve higher levels of compliance with international rules and recommendations,” Al-Duailj added.

Salvatore Sciacchitano, president of the ICAO Council, said that the organization’s inauguration was an important step toward enhancing safety in the civil aviation sector.

“It embodies the amount of cooperation exerted to develop civil aviation safety in the Middle East,” he added.

He pointed out that the sector was an essential driver of economic growth and connectivity between countries.

Abdenbi Manar, director general of the Arab Civil Aviation Organization, noted ‎that the transportation sector played an essential role in the progress of nations.

He said: “It contributes to creating wealth and job opportunities, whether at the ‎industrial level or the infrastructure of the transportation system, and air transport ‎is usually an integral part of this system.

“The air transport sector is distinguished from other types of transportation by its ‎speed, efficiency, regularity, and high level of safety.

“Also, it relies on international ‎standards, whether at the institutional level or at the legal, financial, and technical ‎level,” Manar added.‎

The five-day ICAO conference is being hosted by the GACA until Dec. 7, with the participation of more than 100 countries and international organizations, and at least 700 industry experts.