Today we paid an early morning visited the Balad, an area located in the south of Jeddah. Exploring the old part of the city, we discovered the rich heritage and backbone that gave birth to the vast city of Jeddah. The winding narrow roads that run through the old city captured both my imagination and curiosity.

What was once the beating heart of the city is now filled with decaying abandoned buildings, which still retain their inspirational beauty. I think that seeing the old city up close really showed us the importance of tradition and of preserving it.

We had lunch at Al Bangala - the local fish market near Jeddah’s port. Fresh fish is cooked in a traditional Hijazi way - deep fried - with a side of sayadeyya, brown rice.

In the evening we visited Dr. Sami Angawi’s home, Makeyya, a beautiful house designed with old Hijazi architectural methods. His son, Ahmad Angawi, a product designer and a contemporary artist participating in Edge of Arabia’s Jeddah exhibition, delivered a tour of the house focusing on the importance of maintaining a balance between preserving traditional ways and the need for modernization and progress, which need not contradict one another.

Snapshots of my first few days on the Arabia Offscreen expedition. Saudi seen through the eyes of a young Egpytian artist!