RIYADH, 3 March 2004 — A rare collection of Palestinian culture and heritage entitled “Palestine’s Traditional Treasures” will be inaugurated by Princess Hussa Al-Shaalan, the wife of Crown Prince Abdullah, at the King Abdul Aziz Historical Center here on April 10.

The Palestinian treasures form part of the rare Arab heritage collection of the ethnographer Widad Kamel Kawar.

Badriya Al-Kublan, a member of the museum’s advisory council, said Palestinian culture “creatively speaks of the intrinsic link between its people and their homeland. Their culture, going back to 4,000 years, remains alive despite all attempts to destroy it.”

Al-Kublan said the Kawar collection was the largest and most important collection of costumes from Palestine, Jordan and Syria.

Kawar is reportedly afraid for her collection given the unstable situation in the region. “At present, this is my greatest worry: how to protect my collection — especially after what happened to museums and cultural centers as well as collectors’ items in Iraq,” a report quoted her as saying.

“I hope that a trust will be formed to protect the collection as a whole from being divided. For security reasons, I would like this trust to be located in Switzerland or in another European country.”

A KAAHC National Museum statement said the show “will shed a new light on Arab and Palestinian women, their personality, their workmanship and skills. (It) will serve as a source of art, anthropology, economy and culture which can be viewed in the background of Saudi-Palestinian relations”.

The exhibition will be open daily from 4 p.m, to 9 p.m.

Displays will include costumes and accessories like jewelry, head covers, cushions, embroideries, weavings, pottery, straw work and household items.