Al-Sadu craft is a vital technique in the history of the United Arab Emirates. Inscribed onto the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding in 2011,

Al-Sadu is also important as it was used to create home structures also known as bait al-shaar (Bedouin Tents) that were used as communal living spaces and social spaces for family and visitors.

In addition, the craft of Al-Sadu was also used to decorate the interiors of these tents, as well as with animals through saddle pieces & straps. It is predominantly woven using plain and geometrical patterns inspired by the surrounding environment of the bedouins.

‘Formation of Soof” is an immersive installation that pays tribute to the core materials and tools of Al-Sadu craft: wool (Soof) & the spinner/ spindle (Maghzal or Ghazal). Spinning the wool is a traditional technique used to create the raw wool into yarn balls. The process of spinning is time consuming but also very intimate and hypnotic in its formation process. The pavilion celebrates the importance of the technique and the flow of movement that allows the transformation from a raw soft material into the Sadu textile that is architecturally fundamental to the building of traditional tent structures.