00:01If you listen closely, Qatar is more than traffic and construction.
00:06In the outskirts of the city, a quieter rhythm is in motion.
00:11These walls hold history that was learned and handed down.
00:15This is the Al-Qatar House at Qatar's Education City.
00:19It's the perfect example of how a modern country is preserving cultural heritage.
00:24Originally home to one of Qatar's founding families,
00:27it's now a space which hosts cultural activities, workshops and not to mention a living museum.
00:34I'm Laila Humaira and this is Qatar in Motion.
00:42Did you know that Qatar and its GCC neighbours have seven elements currently inscribed
00:48in UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage?
00:52Last year, the Bishd and Al-Sadu weaving were inaugurated,
00:56joining Arabic coffee, henna, dates, falconry and the majlis.
01:02This year, the region is looking to add Al-Arda, the traditional sword dance,
01:08the musical instrument Oud and Al-Safiyad plant weaving into the list.
01:15The Al-Qatar Heritage House is the home of the HERFA programme,
01:20Qatar Foundation's year-long course aimed at reviving the art of traditional crafts,
01:25deeply rooted in Qatari and Islamic culture.
01:29Launched in 2024, HERFA combines tradition and creativity
01:33to safeguard heritage arts and ancient craftsmanship.
01:37Long before the construction of state-of-the-art universities in Education City,
01:43the area, known as Al-Rayyan, was home to Qatar's earliest rulers and founding families.
01:49This location where we are now was one of the first inhabitants of all Al-Rayyan.
01:56So the Al-Khatar family, or the late Fahad Al-Khatar, relocated with his uncle,
02:03who was at the time ruler of Qatar, Sheikh Abdullah bin Jasim.
02:07And at the time there was nothing here, but the area was fertile and it had underground water.
02:11The ruler settled there with his nephew.
02:14And that is around the end of the 19th century, beginning of the 20th century,
02:21like the early 1900s.
02:22With the establishment of Qatar Foundation in 1995,
02:26Al-Rayyan became the cradle of knowledge and learning.
02:30Led by a vision to protect heritage,
02:33instead of being demolished,
02:35the old houses were incorporated into the construction of the area.
02:39Al-Khatar House is a very unique cultural hub.
02:43It's one of the buildings that QF Restore,
02:46to promote cultural heritage and to stay as a hub for gathering generations around identity,
02:55heritage and culture, and to stay rooted as well.
02:58So the HRFA program is a unique program in the region, let's say,
03:02where it covers all the traditions, activities.
03:07At the Al-Khatar House, participants of HRFA immerse themselves in a year-long coursework,
03:14which covers geometric drawing,
03:17nabati motifs, textiles,
03:20gypsum and ceramics,
03:21and marquetry.
03:23Being in this environment or in this learning ecosystem,
03:27it's provided me the opportunity to disconnect from real life
03:30and reconnect with my senses,
03:33whether that's through touch or smell or sight.
03:36My favourite part of the program so far has been extracting colours from nature,
03:42whether that's through berries or through minerals or through rocks.
03:46Each structure of the building is used as classrooms,
03:50workstations and places to store materials,
03:53inventory or equipment like kilns.
03:56The Flower and Herb Garden is also where participants get to experiment
04:00with different types of plants and natural dyes.
04:03At the end of the program,
04:05they get to showcase their masterpiece
04:07and hopefully pass along what they've learnt.
04:34It's quite fitting that a program aimed at preserving traditional craftsmanship
04:38is being hosted within the grounds of a heritage house,
04:42which itself has been refurbished
04:44to ensure that the legacy of Qatar's founding families lives on.
04:50The Qatar House has some unique features
04:54that you don't see in an urban Qatari house.
04:57This is a rural setup for a Qatari house connected to agriculture.
05:01The large courtyard is needed because of the need
05:04from an agricultural perspective, the availability of land,
05:07and also there was an area at the back that used to house animals.
05:13We have the majlis, which is the main hospitality space for Qatar in Qatari tradition.
05:20Among other features that were kept through to the original form
05:23are the mosque, the main gate, the stone walls and denshell roofs,
05:28as well as the road that leads to the royal family's home.
05:31For the Herfa participants, the opportunity to visit the Al Qatari house every day
05:37to learn about Islamic art and traditional craftsmanship
05:40gives them a profound appreciation and deep contemplation about beauty.
05:45I feel that if you are surrounded by beauty continuously,
05:50it changes you in terms of your reflection of beauty in thought,
05:56beauty in speech, beauty in behaviour, beauty in values.
06:00And to be surrounded by that remembrance continuously
06:04can only make us more humane and better human beings.
06:08And it's exactly these values that Qatar Foundation believes
06:12forms the foundations of a successful nation.
06:16When you are faithful to your roots, to your traditions,
06:19and you are faithful to your basics,
06:21you are able to develop into your own identity farther away.
06:27You don't disconnect.
06:29So we are trying to be connected and rooted to what Qatar is
06:34and what Qatar identity and heritage is.
06:36And not only hand them material, cultural, heritage aspect,
06:39that they think it's an all-out and educational research and everything else.
06:45Among many organisations helping to advance Qatar Foundation's mission
06:49is the Qatar National Library.
06:51It launched the Family Digital Papers Project last year,
06:54aimed at building a platform to access documents and artefacts
06:58from Qatar's founding families.
07:00The initiative provides a window to early life in Qatar,
07:04and Q&L is going a step further to ensure
07:07that these heritage items are safeguarded forever.
07:10The initiative provides a range of the time of the country
07:13to protect and promote the history of Qatar and Qatar's region.
07:17Jó jest to pomaganie w budżecie społeczności między obiecenia i społeczeństwa.
07:25Wyszykła dla tego projektu jest to oczywanie z filozów oraz obiecyzowali zawodów.
07:30Wydziału władzę, która jest władzy władzy.
07:33Władzy został odwod niż przedmią dwie władzy, to władzy w 1794 roku w budże.
07:41Tą również mężynie są do wyładzy władzy, które podróżą pojęcia władzy.
07:47jest poprzeć się odgłopów.
07:49Podobnie się odgłopów przeglopu,
07:50które wygłopowały się odgłopów,
07:53odpocznej życzenia przeglopów do vidału.
07:56W pojazdach na nieruchomościach rastkowców.
07:59W sumie odgłopów,
08:00odgłopów w pojemnicy.
08:02Podobnią się odgłopów w pojemnicy.
08:04Podobnie się odgłopów w pojemnicy,
08:06na wierzycie lektory.
08:08Dzimę odgłopów w pojemnicy.
08:12Podobnie się odgłopów do pojemnicy.
08:12Podobnie się odgłopów na rozwójów.
08:15w ramach
08:23Wymie jest to, że jest to, że jest to, to, w tym, dla tarihe tych rodziców,
08:29oraz dla tych rodziców, które są w tym, dla tych rodziców, które znajdują się w Ketar.
08:35Wszystkie prawały i zauwałyby są bardzo ważne w społeczeństwachachach.
08:40W tym, że jest to, to, to, że są bardzo ważne w tym, że to,
08:42że są bardzo ważne w tym, że to, co, jest to, co, są to,
08:46jako tezwy, że jest to, jest to, co,
09:10Wszystkie prawa zastrzeżone są w
09:24Muzyka
09:54Zdjęcia i wspaniałek, to jest tutaj, w środowisku
09:59Niesiąca Muzeum w Katarze, że stanowisko lideracji krajów
10:02Dzisiaj, muzeum przyczyni Katarze' z świadkiem
10:06jako custodian i protektorzy z kulturą.
10:10Zostawienie, pozostanie, pozostanie, pozostanie,
10:12pozostanie, pozostanie, pozostanie się w życiu.
10:16To może zmienić wiele formów,
10:18Many forms, it could be conservation, consolidation, restoration, renovation, adaptive reuse.
10:25Culture is about multiple ownerships, a network of owners.
10:30It's about people appreciating the value of what you see.
10:33If people stop visiting the Mona Lisa, it will cease to be of value.
10:39So as many people as you want to own the space, to feel like they're attached to the space,
10:46to feel like they are related to the space somehow,
10:49you can continue to preserve that space for the future generations.
10:54The heritage fails when we preserve the fabric and lose the narrative.
10:59So is this building only special because it's a palace, it's 110 years old,
11:05or is it special because it was a place where some leaders were born, future leaders were born?
11:11Treaties were signed, meetings happened, early formation of government,
11:15early formation of financial systems, early formation of Shura Council.
11:20There is so much narrative that has happened in this place.
11:24And usually, the mark, the building, the monument is only the symbol that remains.
11:30You preserve an element so that the story can continue to resonate.
11:37From heritage houses to traditional craftsmanship,
11:40Qatar's dedication to preserving cultural heritage
11:43is as robust as the skyscrapers its building
11:46and the technological innovations that's driving the country forward.
11:50That's all the time we have for now.
11:52Thanks for watching, Qatar in Motion, and see you next time.
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