The 10th Katara Festival of Traditional Bearings is keen to revive and enhance the heritage crafts associated with the sea, as it provides a daily review on the shore of the Cultural Village Foundation / Katara / for these professions from the various participating countries, namely the State of Kuwait, the Sultanate of Oman, the Republic of Iraq, the Republic of India, the United Republic of Tanzania (Zanzibar) and the host country, Qatar.
The festival, which started on Tuesday, received important visits, as a number of their Excellencies Sheikhs, senior officials and a number of their Excellencies ambassadors accredited to the state visited it, in addition to a large audience of all ages and groups.
The pavilions of the countries participating in the festival, which will continue until the day after tomorrow (Saturday), reflect the rich cultural stock and marine heritage of these countries. They also appear as museums that boast vibrant images for their models of marine life, fishing tools, means for building ships and boats, as well as what they display. From diving equipment and the pearl trade, and everything that sailors need on their long voyages and voyages.
These professions related to marine heritage, and the most important ones related to pearl diving, such as Tawash and / Qallaf / or carpenter, are among the prominent occupations in the ancient labor market. Al Hayrat, Qatar, is considered one of the best places in the Arabian Gulf where the finest pearls are extracted.
Among the Qatari participations that highlight the crafts associated with maritime heritage, Al-Majid Jewelry presents in its pavilion a live presentation of how to work on pearls, measure their size and collect them in various formations in accordance with the tastes of everyone, in addition to the pavilion containing a distinguished assortment of contracts and jewelry that mixed the traditional heritage and character Modernity in line with the requirements of the times to attract the interest of jewelry seekers in Qatar.
As for the Iraqi maritime heritage, it is distinguished by its vocabulary and its common heritage with the Arabian Gulf, and on the Iraqi pavilion at the festival, Mr. Mahdi Mutashar, the supervisor of the pavilion, said that he displays a group of ancient Iraqi folk crafts such as making boats / mushafs / used in fishing in addition to hand-made carpets made of wool, and making Baskets and mats, a rug woven from wicker, which is used for sitting.
Regarding the Omani pavilion, Mr. Hammoud bin Abdullah Al-Amrani, supervisor of the glories of Oman museum, explained that his country’s pavilion offers a bouquet of antiques and rare collectibles of the sea, such as personal supplies for sailors on their long 6-month voyages, such as cooking utensils, preparing food, shaving and food storage facilities in addition to Utensils of natural oils that are used for treatment and medicinal purposes, in addition to many exhibits that represent models of famous ships in the Omani maritime heritage, pearl extraction tools, oyster corps and scales used by the tawras and boxes used to collect the pearl crop, as well as many ancient archaeological holdings such as sand clocks, astrolabes and compasses. It dates back 150 years.
Ahmed Abdullah Al-Hitmi, Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Tenth Katara Festival of Traditional Bearings, said: The organization of the festival came this year in exceptional global circumstances due to the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, and the festival management has taken all preventive measures to ensure the safety of visitors, starting with the entry mechanism in which we have adopted it. Pre-registration through the Katara website or registration from the office on the waterfront, in addition to distributing tables with the festival’s barcode on the entire site, which enables visitors to obtain their electronic tickets, and gates have been designated for entry and exit gates to prevent crowding.
Also, the festival site was designed with large areas and floor stickers were placed to remind visitors of the importance of social distancing, noting that many bearings were distributed in different locations in Katara to promote the festival and add another aesthetic dimension to the cultural district.
Its location also attracts a diverse audience of different age groups, with full compliance with safety and prevention measures against the Coronavirus.
