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-Ardah, 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,
03:15which 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 favorite part of the program so far has been extracting colors 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 learned.
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.
06:01And to be surrounded by that remembrance continuously
06:05can 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 in the material, cultural, heritage aspect,
06:39that they think it's in all other 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 involves the government's vision foragers,
07:14safety and history of Qatar including Turkey.
07:17And, the idea of destiny is the network of more communities,
07:24that is Sanae defines your own purpose.
07:30The vision of Osujaq United has changed
07:32What we're going to do in this project is that the land that comes to one of the
07:35one of the cities that we have in 1794 in the region of Buchehr and also there is a lot
07:42of
07:42of the processes that take place in the 40s and 50s in the city of Buchehr.
07:47It's also that it's going to be a cultural and cultural change in the life of the
07:54We are going to get a lot of money to the life of the petrol and the beginning of the
07:58new plant in Qatar.
07:59Then we will send it to the construction equipment that is available in the library.
08:03We will send it to the construction equipment and we will send it to the construction equipment in the library.
08:16These are all important things and they are considered an additional and additional in the past year in Qatar.
08:23In addition to that, it is a protection and support for these families and a special history for the countries
08:32that are present in Qatar.
08:35The nationalities and the nationalities are very important in the international community, and it is very important to protect these
08:43nationalities and the nationalities.
08:45One of the main areas of the nationalities is the recovery of the nationalities and the nationalities.
08:50In addition to that, there is an exchange between the establishment and the establishment and the establishment of the nationalities.
08:57In addition to that, there is also an improvement of the internationalities and the internationalities that are considered an addition
09:06to the history of the country.
09:08This is important for us because it is considered an addition to the history of the nationalities that are present
09:20in the nationalities.
09:23The nationalities that is Also available in the nationalities and the nationalities that are far away from the nationalities that
09:33are looking for the history of Qatar and the internationalities.
09:37And in the way, the nationalities is to use the internationalities.
09:40Our dates and we must be aware of the nationalities to that there are many challenges in the internationalities iniqué
09:50Liat.
09:54from the cradle of knowledge to the epicenter of culture it's here within the grounds of the
09:59national museum of qatar that the country's leadership flourished today the museum brings
10:04qatar story to the world as custodians and protectors of cultural heritage to keep it
10:11to keep it alive to preserve it to expand its life so to speak that could take many shapes
10:18many forms it could be conservation consolidation restoration renovation adaptive reuse culture is
10:26about multiple ownership a network of ownership it's about people appreciating the value of what
10:33you see if people stop visiting the mona lisa it will cease to be of value so as many people
10:41as
10:41you want to own the space to feel like they're attached to the space to feel like they are
10:47related to the space somehow you can continue to preserve that space for the future generations
10:54the heritage fails when we preserve the fabric and lose the narrative so is this building only
11:01special because it's a palace it's 110 years old or is it special because it was a place where some
11:08leaders were born future leaders were born treaties were signed meetings happened early formation of
11:15government early formation of financial systems early formation of shura council there is so much
11:21narrative that has happened in this place and usually the mark the building the monument is only the
11:28symbol that remains you preserve an element so that the story can continue to resonate from heritage
11:38houses to traditional craftsmanship qatar's dedication to preserving cultural heritage is as robust as the
11:45skyscrapers its building and the technological innovations that's driving the country forward
11:50that's all the time we have for now thanks for watching qatar in motion and see you next time
11:55you
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