Metal engraving is one of the traditional decorative handicrafts associated with the conscience, identity, customs, and traditions of the people involved.
Metal engraving (gold, silver, and copper) is defined in the Convention as an intangible cultural heritage. As a traditional craft, this art is closely linked to practices, rituals, and festivities within the intangible cultural heritage.
Metal engraving is an ancient art, possibly dating back to the discovery of minerals by man and the development of ways of extracting and processing them. The skills were passed across generations, preserved, and developed until they reached the present day as a living heritage. This living heritage is created by professionals and amateurs, old and young, who are keen to preserve and develop it. The process of engraving involves stitching a precise tool into metal, either by placing a previous drawing followed by the tool or by improvising various shapes. This is especially true for engraving a small piece of metal.
Various government vocational schools, heritage institutes, colleges, and universities teach applied arts and traditional crafts. Furthermore, the concerned bodies are organizing practical lectures and exhibitions of traditional industries. Research centers, craft institutes, folk art studies centers, vocational schools, traditional industries sectors, and national heritage institutes, as well as government agencies and institutions that inventory intangible cultural heritage, are among these institutions. Articles, books, research, studies, heritage encyclopedias, newspaper, and magazine articles were published in all the states that were submitted.
All participating states provide metal engraving knowledge and skills in two ways: family-based inheritance and formal methods of training young trainees outside the family. Especially those related to Palestinian traditional ornaments can be found in the Héritage Museum in Jérusalem and in the Old Hebron Museum. In Saudi Arabia, the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs has lowered the rent prices of shops for craft practitioners. In Sudan, there are four museums that display ornaments and engraved tools, including the Ethnographic Museum, the Caliph bin Abdullah Museum, and the Republican Museum. Artifacts carved by Tunisians are acquired and displayed in the Museums of Ethnography and History. An ethnographic museum such as the Museum of Customs and Traditions in Aden, Yemen, includes engraving craft products. Regulations and laws have also been enacted in some countries to protect engraving on metal. The promotion of heritage products will be accomplished by holding periodic exhibitions, planning cultural festivals, and holding traditional markets.