Souq Wagif - A Modern Nostalgia

  "You don't really need modernity in order to exist totally and fully. You need a mixture of modernity and tradition" Theodore Bikel.

For this blog I’m going to be talking about Souq Wagif in Doha. I will be explaining why and how was the Qatari government successful in blending aspects of modernity along with traditions.


Souq Wagif (The Standing Market) was once a place where Bedouins traded and bargained during weekends, and is a now a masterpiece of architecture, art and cultural heritage. Thousands of people from all around the region still visit Souq Wagif to purchase traditional goods such as spices, food, jewelry, clothes, perfumes and even falcons.

It was first built more than hundred years ago, however, it was renovated and rebuilt in 2004. The unique thing about how it was renovated is that they used traditional building material as well traditional Qatari architectural techniques.

They did that to preserve the authenticity of the Souq and its general appearance, although they have added more buildings for example, the Art Gallery and Center. The aspects of modernity were obvious for instance, Souq Wagif has three world class hotels, cafes and restaurants, both international and traditional Qatari food

I decided that if I were to find out how people really feel about the changes that were made, I have to ask those who directly effected. In this case it was the shop owners. I conducted an interview with two textiles shop owners.


Surprisingly, they both had different opinions regarding the Souq Wagif’s past and presence. The older shop owner preferred the old golden days, the younger one embraced modernity. They both agreed that modernity did make their lives easier.

Modernity is the result of industrialization, and different generations have different opinions regarding how negative or positive our post-tradition present is. Can modernity blend well with traditions? Of course, as they it gets the best of both worlds. Qatar’s economy is booming and even though our society is being restructured and modernized, our government is encouraging us to maintain our traditional values and rich cultural heritage.

In Souq Wagif, the old meets new, the past meets present and the locals meet foreigns as a result of globalization and Mcdonaldization in a sense.

P.S. The photos were included in the video.

The Cost of Modernism

For our Cinema and Society class this week, we discussed Bollywood films and the conflict between tradition versus modernism. In "The Bollywood Reader," Rajinder Dudrah and Jigna Desai argue that the evolution (therefore the inevitable modernism of Indian cinema) is part of the evolution of their culture as well. In essence, Bollywood is so much a part of traditional Indian Cinema that these two concepts is defined as an extension of the other. The authors explain that in sociological terms the idea of erassing or further dividing a country across the chaism of modernism is one that has always been in question. "Arjun Appadurai's famous formulation of 'modern at large', modernity cleansed of the mechanics of georgraphical belonging by the diaspoea ansd the cyrber-neighbourhood, certainly offers the terrain on which this insiderism is acted out." (Appadurai, 1997)

This concept got me thinking of my trip to Mecca for Umrah (pilgrimage) during spring break and the difference I saw from the more traditional description of the Holy Ka'aba (pictured above) from my family. Coincidentally, the same time I was in Mecca, a web-article came out in AlJazeers English on Mecca's removal of Muslim History by expanding the Grand Mosque.

The article writes, "Construction plans to expand the Al-Haram mosque in the holy city of Mecca are underway. The project began in 2011 and and will outfit the mosque with air conditioning, electricity, and a new raised walkway around the Kaaba, or the stone structure that Muslims face during prayer. To make way for the new renovations, parts of the existing space, which include Ottoman-era construction, are being bulldozed over."

The first image above is from 1850 as compared to the image I took while in Mecca. Relating back to the benefits of modernism, definitely an argument can be made that although the benefits sometimes outweigh the costs (in concerns to developing Indian cinema through Bollywood), that certain takes on modernism can be more destructive to history and tradition. To further support my argument, this following video shows the amount of contruction happening to expand the Grand Mosque:

A Sepration: Hearts and Houses Divided

A Separation is a 2011 Iranian movie drama movie written and directed by Asghar Farhadi. The film received the Golden Bear for Best Film, won the Golden Globe Awards Best Foreign Language Film.

The Iranian movie, “A Separation,” captures the drama and real life suspense of the modern society as it evolves around the changing role of both controlling men and assertive women. The movie questions the great phenomenon and duality of class, religion, culture, modernity and tradition.

A separation evolves around a secular-modern and open-minded couple, Simin: the wife, and Nader: the husband. However, their conflicting differences lead to filing for a divorce. Simin wants to move abroad for a better future for her daughter, whereas, the Nader is unwilling to relocate because of his fathers ill condition.

The movie starts by when Simin is trying to convince the judge to let her divorce her a bank-clerk husband, Nader. However, the judge turns her down when she explains that she wants to leave the country in order to have a better life for their daughter. The judge questions her, “What are the conditions that you don't want to live here and you don't want to raise your children here?” Following this scene, the director hinges on the question and portrays the obstacles they’re faced within the Iranian society.


Simin tends to be an open-minded and independent woman, as she leaves the house, rather than agreeing to her husband’s decision. As a result, Nader is forced to hire a nurse to take care of his ill father. We are then introduced to another side of the Iranian community: the religious, poor and holy. Social inequality and cultural clash becomes evident when Nader hires a nurse for his father, Razieh. For instance, Razieh calls her religious leader and asks permission on whether she could help out the old man, without having her husband informed of her job in first place.

The movie emphasizes on culture, social inequality and religion between the increasing poor and rich citizens. Cultural differences are greatly evident by comparing Simin’s and Razieh’s life. Razieh tends to satisfy her husbands needs and is scared of her husband finding out about her job, whereas Simin is more independent with making her choices. Plus, their non-material culture is evident through their clothing, as it is another symbol to portray women in Iran. The more rich and open-minded women dress more freely, whereas, the poor and oppressed women wear black Chadors. In addition, social inequality is evident as Simin’s husband is a bank clerk, whereas, Razieh’s husband is unemployed.