The Outback in Qatar

I recently found out that an Outback Steakhouse opened up here in Qatar. My parents decided to take us there, having been there during the opening and trying out the food. When I asked, dubiously, if it was any good compared to the franchise in Canada, the first answer I got was "It's in Lagoona!" As if that answered my question, but to them it did. Having recently learned about authenticity and what it means to different people of different social groups and classes, we also learned through Grazian's research that authenticity is linked to location. The next answer I got was "They have the same menu and everything, the food isn't AS good as the one in Canada but almost." So by replying that "It's in Lagoona," and relating it to the experience in Canada in a positive way, it implied that because of the location and the atmosphere it was going to be as authentic an experience as it could get outside of Canada. Grazian's readings also emphasize situational authenticity, which comes when an outsider makes a claim to realness that emphasizes certain characteristics while under-emphasizing others. In this case, the owners of the Middle Eastern franchise have made the claim by blurring certain distinctions, such as the fact that rather than being in North America, where the steakhouse experience is somehow more "authentic," it is in Lagoona, which, being surrounded by the Pearl, Grand Hyatt, the Diplomatic Club, and other hubs of Western cultural activity, represents a chunk of the West transplanted into and shaped by the local experience and context. In addition, although the Steakhouse is American, it is Australian-themed, and in addition to attempting to emulate the authentic "Australian" experience, it is owned by a company called Bloomin' Brands (the word "bloomin'" and its spelling is colloquial Australian), which is also American. However, the company attempts to downplay the fact that it is American by employing colloquial Australian in their language and offering Austrlian food and steaks imported from, you guessed it, Australia.

Risk Management Strategies

          Today in class, I had to analyse the risk management strategies of Sidra supermarket in the Student Centre. I was extremely interested in this project and examining the way the store was set up and thus decided to do the same when I went to shop for make up today at 51 East. While I was walking around trying to find all of my favourite items, I was paying close attention to the conventions used by the store and how they appealed to their customers.
          I tried to answer the first question from the worksheet with this new scenario I was in. The standard items I would find in this section was obviously makeup, perfumes, body soap and face creams. I also expected to see organized stands that divide all of the different products, and a colourful displays for every different brand available.

          The second question on the worksheet involved pointing out different risk management techniques used by the business. The first was having well known brands and companies that are known internationally and locally. Their brands included both successful high-end companies and regular ones. Some high end brands also used celebrities as the face of their products. For example, Charlize Theron models for Dior make up and her photo was blown up on the wall of that section. This is considered to be a risk management strategy as Dior hired a prominent figure to be a part of their campaign.

Each brand also sold every make up product they have available. For example, the Chanel stand included eye shadow, blush, lipstick, mascara, perfumes, creams, soaps, nail polish and much more. This is called overproduction where you create more cultural products than the market can sustain in hopes that a few big hits will cover the numerous losses. This concept applied with every brand in the make up section.

Another technique was the use of product placement. At the entrance of the store, the first thing you would see in this section was a massive perfume display for Guerlain. It was a small-elevated stage by the escalator and was designed beautifully. One could not help and stare at the stand if they pass by it. This was intentionally done by the brand in order to promote their latest collection. If one likes it, they’re most likely to look at the other products by the same brand.

Lastly, they included a small coffee shop in the middle of the make up department. This was clever and appealing, especially towards men, as they now get to enjoy a cup of coffee while their wife shops for new make up.
          The last question on the worksheet asked if we saw any examples of glocalization. This is when a product imported from another country has been customized to appeal to the local audience. I personally did not see any examples of glocalization as you cannot modify a lipstick number or blush shade. As this may be inconvenient for the locals who do not speak English, many of the saleswomen spoke Arabic and therefore were taught to deal with this dilemma.

Frontstage vs. Backstage

Today I decided to go to a casual café, one that is considered a place where middle-class people go. I wanted to analyze it using the dramaturgy theory. This theory states that organizations can be examined like plays or movies. They have a setting, actors, roles, an audience, forestage and backstage behaviors. I went to a café called Bayt Al-Shami.

I observed peoples’ behaviors, the customers, and the waiters. I listened in on their conversations and I observed their behaviors.

In Grazian’s chapter about interaction theory, he talks about the fact that culture is determined by the social contexts in which we interact with others.

In a cultural context such as the one I was in today, there are certain norms and behaviors I expected to see, and others I didn’t expect to see. For example I expected to see middle-class people, behave moderately classy, yet not as classy as what I would expect someone to behave in a hotel. The norm would be for them to, not yell in the middle of the restaurant, yet not whisper in order for them to be classy.

The setting was a very regular setting, casual middle-eastern seating, low Arabic music playing in the background, and mixed gendered groups of people sitting together, whether they were friends or family.



The front stage behavior, which is the behavior that takes place where it is visible to the audience, i.e. the customers in the restaurant, was also very predictable. People are socialized to act a certain way based on the setting they are in, and for a place like this, it was normal to see children running around, and people occasionally getting loud.



As for the waiters, they’re expected to occasionally hover, to be polite, however, they’re not expected to be as professional as classy as waiters are in a hotel restaurant, and not as trashy as they are in a cheap “guy sheesha” places. Which is also what I observed in the front stage.



The back stage behavior was particularly interesting. I got close to the kitchen area and snapped a few pictures hoping one of them would be slightly clear, and I hovered a little to listen in on their conversations.



Some were yelling, some were laughing really loudly, and one of them was sing Baby for Justin Bieber, as his friends were huddled around him.

The drastic change between front stage and back stage definitely proved that the setting really does determine peoples’ behaviors.

Education City, a Culture

Education City, or Hamad Bin Khalifa University, is an interesting place. It is home to hundreds of students from a host of diverse nations, each with their unique culture and experiences. Students have the opportunity to continue their studies from primary to secondary school, from an undergrad to even an executive master's degree. One thing that we learned in class is that socialization is the interactive process by which people learn the ways of the society in which they live. HBKU operates by a set of sub-laws that, although not supra-national laws, are answerable directly to the authority of HBKU itself, which has its own policing force, rules and regulations, expectations, and codes of conduct. Students that enjoy the privilege of an education in HBKU that have attended schools in Qatar previously will notice the immediate shift in the social environment. They become socialized within the boundaries of HBKU that there is a much more lax dress code, rules against public displays of affection are not as oppressive, although still firm, and the cultural and ideological diversity breeds new ideas and interactions between people that previously would never have met. Grazian explains this as cultural diffusion, a process where cultures adapt parts of other cultures. Qatar has created a bubble here whereby the local culture adapts parts of cultures world-wide: the American universities hold vacations during Muslim holy days, a practice that isn't common in the US, is just one example. Karl Marx states in his theory that when there is a large group of people that are in proximity to each other, people start to talk. When people start to talk, ideas begin to spread, and new habits and cultural idiosyncrasies are developed. Grazian states that culture is determined by the social contexts in which we interact with others, and that subcultures are smaller groups that are distinct from the larger social contexts they exist in based on their values, beliefs, symbols, and/or activities. Each university in HBKU holds its own values, and each of the students have their own values and beliefs, and HBKU itself has its own values, beliefs, and vision of what it wants for its students. Members of HBKU have their own vehicle tags to allow them unobstructed entry onto the campus, each university member has his or her own ID and an assortment of office supplies, clothes, and other utensils that have either HBKU or the name of their host university on them. Upon graduation, each student receives a rather expensive-looking ring with their name engraved on it with a stylistic engraving of the HBKU tree's leaf. These things can arguably be called the totems of HBKU, or an object that serves as the symbol of the group. HBKU as a scene has its own idioculture, enjoying its own collective memory and shared experiences, its own ideology and attitude, and its own system of knowledge, all of which Grazian states are important tenets of microscenes and idiocultures. Ultimately, HBKU can be seen as a culture that is a fabricated and sped up modern-day "Renaissance," an investment in human capital and potential that touches on the experiences of the West with a vision for Qatar.

West Bay Lagoon

          One of the most popular compounds in Qatar right now is West Bay Lagoon. It is known for its beautiful houses, large parks and international atmosphere. During class this week, we spoke about subcultures and the interaction theory, which I believe relates to this modern compound. Westbay Lagoon has a specific identity as they are portrayed as open minded individuals across Doha. They are considered a subculture as they have distinct characteristics that separate them from the rest of Qatar's population. Although there are a variety of different cultural backgrounds that live in this area, they consider each other family whenever they meet one another. This also relates to the looking glass-self theory as the residents in West Bay lagoon would not have this image if it was not for the rest of the society believing they are active individuals. In addition, the residents flaunt this image through their dress code and daily activities.

          When I was at the compound, I tried to relate it to the interaction theory. This concept is implemented when culture is created, diffused and consumed through social interactions among small groups of individuals such as friends and neighbours. West Bay Lagoon compound have a specific culture and it is especially exposed amongst their parks. The compound can also be classified as a subculture as we are a smaller group from Qatar’s population with certain beliefs and habits. A majority of residents in the compound have the same hobbies and most families have similar reasons to why they chose to live in West Bay     
           I visited one of the parks which is a 'scene' to this subculture. It is a place where members of this community interact and create a shared identity. I saw many families dressed in sportswear playing outdoor activities such as tennis, football and cycling. If one were cycling anywhere else in Qatar, the cars driving by would stop and stare. However, it is considered a norm in this community. This park is classified as scene because it caters to every single person in this compound. They have sections for different activities and therefore it became popular in a very short period of time. The residents demanded for more parks and thus every street number have a park to themselves. Although this decreases the chances of families interacting with one another from different streets, it is common to jog through all the parks of West Bay Lagoon, allowing them all to be filled with life and happiness.

       

      While walking through the parks, I tried to think like a sociologist and observed the activities that were being held. Every park had a tennis court, basketball court, a large grass field and swings for the younger kids. It was interesting to see how every park consisted of families doing the same activities even though they all came from different backgrounds. It was the norm for children to be playing sports while their parents walk around and enjoy the scenery. This standard behaviour could only be considered ordinary and expected through the interaction of families within this compound. In addition to the park being defined as a scene in the West Bay Lagoon subculture, I would classify it as a symbol as well. The families interact in this space, they exchange thoughts and ideas of what they do during their spare time. Therefore, this park symbolises friendship and is one of the main reasons this subculture was formed.

On the Cultural Significance of Sham El- Nassim

Yesterday we had an unusual banquet at our house, one that particularly smelled horrible! Yes I did say this. It was a celebration for the ancient dating feast of “Sham El Nassim”. While most Egyptians today think Sham El Nassim is an Arabic word (شم النسيم) meaning the “the smell of the Zephyr” because it is celebrated during the spring time, the word was found to be more ancient than one could think of. This feast of Sham El Nassim has ancient Egyptian origins with the word "Shemu" being used in the ancient Egyptian culture during harvest days meaning “the day of creation”. Greek historians of the first century have recorded accounts of ancient Egyptians eating salted fish, lettuce and onions. That’s what I meant by the horrible smell! Egyptians were thought to celebrate the Shemu since 2700 B.C. and surprisingly it is still celebrated to that day with minor changes.

Later on, Coptic Christians in the second century A.D. found that the feast came during the Christian Lent and were not able to celebrate and eat the salted fish during that time, so they moved the feast to the following day of the Easter. The day of Sham El Nassim has to occur on Monday, since Easter has to be on Sunday. It’s also interesting to mention that the ancient Egyptian word “Shemu” developed to the Coptic word “Shom Ennisim” then finally to the Arabic transliteration “Sham El Nassim”.

While this blog post was not intended to be a historical class, it was important to give a brief background to understand the culture behind what we just celebrated yesterday.

You are probably wondering how the feast is supposed to be on Monday while we celebrated yesterday on Friday. Indeed “Sham El Nassim” is celebrated on Monday following the Eastern calendar of Easter which was meant to be on Monday May 6 this year. However, due to some family circumstances and traveling the feast was postponed a little bit.

Let’s just get to the sociology of this ancient feast!

According to the functionalist approach, Sham El Nassim can be seen as an event with its own rituals and practices that brings people together in social solidarity. Sham El Nassim, as a collective celebration, that makes all Egyptians, regardless of their religion; join together to celebrate in the same way. Also, what is more fascinating is Egyptians in Qatar who unite in family groups to celebrate this event. To us, Egyptians, the culture of Sham El Nassim meets the four characteristics of popular culture: being well liked by everyone, is easily recognized by all Egyptians, all classes in Egypt understand the rituals associated with the feast and finally everyone can relate to it in different ways.

The main practice in Sham El Nassim is family gathering either in public parks or in houses. Yesterday, over seven families came and joined our feast at our house. None of these families are direct relatives of ourselves, but they are friends who we relate to when living abroad. Such a family gathering makes us all appreciate the unity it generates and the sense of togetherness.

The main ritual of Sham El Nassim is to eat “Fisikh”, which is an Egyptian dish of salted fish, and onions, as you can see in the images below. However, yesterday I noticed that the table of fisikh was 80% women with only two or three men only eating fisikh. Those who found fisikh distasteful, like me, were mostly men who had another table with other types of food like pastas, kofta and salads.

Even though everyone who attended enjoyed the family gathering on Sham El Nassim, not everyone enjoyed the rituals of eating fisikh. Therefore, I do wonder with Grazian in his book “mix it up” if such a ritual will continue to be passed through the main agents of socialization. And even if it did will it still generate the same sense of social solidarity and unity amongst the celebrating community?

I also noticed the segregation that Fisikh has made, most women sat on the Fisikh table and most men and children sat on the normal food table. It could be because of health or dietary choices, especially because Fisikh has direct correlation to high blood pressure, dehydration and occasionally food poisoning if not cleaned well. But this phenomena of less than 50% eating Fisikh could be also because of the other options that were available that included Italian pasta. Hence, globalization can be a factor that interferes with cultural elements of Sham El Nassim.

Will the feast that survived more than 4700 years be able to survive the 21st century? While, globalization might seem to be destroying the rituals of eating Fisikh on Sham El Nassim, it has given me an escape from eating it so maybe having more options can be good! Yet fisikh lovers like my mother will still love Fisikh anyways.

The Essence of Diversity

Last spring, I have been to Washington D.C where I visited my brother whose doing medicine residency in the states. It was a beautiful place filled with many buildings and awesome cuisine.

However, one of the things that had grabbed my attention is how the art and the theme of the place is different than from what I have seen in Doha. In Washington DC, the buildings have this Greek theme that emphasizes the earliest forms of Republicanism. Also the parks are green and filled with many historic-reflective statues such as Abraham Lincoln statue at the National Mall.

Whereas, in Doha, the architecture of the buildings is more headed towards the future. There are these tall buildings with smooth semi-cylindrical shafts that can be found in the west bay districts as well as these glossy zigzag shaped buildings. Also there are so many indoor malls here and there.

I believe that the contrast of such cultural objects that we see in Washington D.C and Doha is important because each symbolize the culture and heritage of the country and its people. If all cultural objects were uniform, there would be no point to traveling to faraway places because there would be no art diversity which makes things seem more vibrant and interesting. Likewise, my trip to Washington D.C would not have been as interesting if I have not been exposed to new and different aspects of infrastructure and building architecture. Of course, the variance of the themes in each region occur because of social forces such as the background of the country, religion, and economy. For instance, the city planners and architectures along with other individuals are basically influenced by such social forces, therefore, implementing different kinds of themes for their respective regions.

Gender Socialization Conflicts in Doha

Food culture in Doha is one of the most important traditions that people uphold in Qatar. For example: if someone is visiting Doha for the first time, one of the things the citizens of Doha insist on offering the visitor is the food. Although the food recipes doesn’t necessarily originate in Doha, but people in Qatar perceive food as great social icebreakers.  

 Interestingly enough, when I observed the food culture in Doha I realized that the gender socialization notions and its applications in the Arab culture is conflicted. First, let me explain what I mean by the gender socialization. Gender socialization is the female and male genders’ learning process to the socially acceptable behaviors and attitudes to each gender’s role. 

In Doha’s culture, the culinary experience is one of the factors that gender is stratified by. Knowing how to cook in the Arab world is strongly affiliated with being a woman. Men are encouraged to know how to cook, however women are supposed and should know how to cook. They should also know how to serve the food for their fathers, husbands, and guests. From observation, I realized that this ideology conflicts with what’s taking place in the Arab restaurants of Doha. 

When I went to Bait El-sham, a Syrian restaurant,

 most of the waiters were males. I checked with the manager and he mentioned that the chef was a male too. Another Arabic restaurant that I went to is the Orient Pearl, which had very few female waitresses, much like Al Saha restaurant, Tajin, Damasca, and Morjan, which had mostly male waiters. Thus, the gender socialization that both genders were exposed to in their upbringing is conflicted with what’s applied in these Arabic restaurants. 

To further understand the conflict that’s taking place, I analyzed more Arab ideologies and gender socialization patterns that can be connected with this conflict. In Doha and the Arab world, there’s a huge distinction between the private, in the house, and public, outside of the house, sphere. The public sphere is more restrictive towards females. In Doha, part of the gender socialization that both genders are brought up with is that women can’t go out late, and can’t go out all the time, where as men are allowed to. 

 In trying to balance between the two deeply rooted beliefs that Arab men and women are brought up with, what became socially acceptable is that men should cook in these Arabic restaurants because it’s a male dominant society. Never mind the strong belief that cooking is associated with females, if the issue is one that has to do with gender, females are almost always contained in the private sphere of the home, something that we, females, are starting to break free from nowadays.

 

Where are the girls?

Popular representations of gender roles in movies affect the way in which we think and behave. Although we tend to assume that the idea of a patriarchal society doesn’t apply anymore to several countries in the Middle East these days, it could be argued that it still does exist. One simple form of examining gender roles in most Middle Eastern countries is through observing the structure of the restaurants. According to Karla A. Erickson in the book Cinematic Sociology, “The restaurant becomes a site where workers and consumes navigate the boundaries between individuals working and living in a service society.” So, I decided to go to a restaurant in Doha called Afghani Brothers and clearly from the name, it’s not a restaurant you would find women in. I went to the restaurant with my friend who was a girl as well and the welcoming gesture was stares from everyone who was in the restaurant. All the workers in the restaurant were males as well. The waiter immediately told us to sit in the second floor and didn’t explain why or ask if we mind. 

The fact that my friend and I were the only girls in the restaurant made it extremely uncomfortable for us because although there was not indication that women are prohibited from entering, it was just unacceptable for women for eat there. Being in this restaurant made me wonder, why is it unacceptable for women to walk in? Could it be because the restaurant is not a highbrow restaurant? Or could it be because there isn’t any female waitresses or workers there?

On the contrary, restaurants that are more westernised have females either working there or as customers. One example is Jones the Grocer, although there was a number of male workers there, the majority of the workers in the restaurant were females and so were the customers. Although women do work in restaurants, those restaurants often tend to be westernized to some extent.

From the restaurant Mamic in Katara. Although there are females who work in restaurants here in Doha, those restaurants tend to be Westernised to some extent.

Through being in those two restaurants, it could be argued that the idea of the patriarchal society or the breadwinner system is not applied when it comes to a western environment. On the other hand, in restaurants such as Afghani Brothers or Turkey Central, there are no women working there and their main customers are males. Although there is no set rule that forbids women from going into these restaurants, the social norm works as a motivation to stop women from being customers in such restaurants. 

What on earth is a Harlem Shake?

This is a question that has appeared on my Twitter and Facebook timeline more than 10 times by different people throughout the past two weeks. “It’s the new Gangam Style!” said one of my friends.

These days, it’s hard to predict what will be a “hit” and what will be a “miss.” According to David Grazian in his book Mix It Up (2010), “The convergence of media content across platforms promises the development of exciting and dynamic new forms of cultural production.” Since achieving success in today’s mass media market is unpredictable, media industries base their decision making on strategies to minimize risk and financial loss. However, famous artists and prominent production labels are now faced with the problem that consumers themselves participate in the coproduction of their own media experience.

Although the strategies used by media firms to minimize risk were shown to be successful in many cases, today’s generation of consumers form a threat to those strategies considering that today’s consumers are also co-producers of pop-culture. According to Grazina (2010), “It is exceedingly uncommon for the media industries to promote cultural products that do not cleave to common types of genre conventions or stylistic boundaries.” However, if we observe the popularity of the Harlem Shake from a sociological perspective, it’s noticeable that it stimulates from the fact that it’s easily reproduced among ordinary consumers. Therefore, the success of a cultural product these days doesn’t necessary depend on the distribution or strategies held by prominent media corporations, instead, it’s now determined by the active participation of the audience in co-producing their own pop-culture and the widespread of popular fades among regular consumers.

The Internet meme culture has gained attention over the past couple of years and the Harlem Shake is considered a subset of this Internet meme culture. Although unexpected, the popularity achieved by the Harlem Shake has caused it to become one of the most popular trends of the year. However, Internet memes could also be considered a strategy for risk reduction since it has been used as a marketing technique and it has proven to be effective in achieving marketable success. Following this popular trend, on February 21^st Northwestern University in Qatar participated in the Harlem Shake trend.

High Society Music?

When I stepped in to Virgin Megastores a few days ago, I found a music stand that was labeled "High Society".

   

It seemed like they wanted to associate that specific stand with highbrow culture. Highbrow culture is culture that is consumed by intellectuals and people who belong to a high social class. However, labeling the stand itself felt like Virgin Megastores was trying to appeal to the people who are from a lower social class interested in highbrow culture and social mobility (moving up or down the class system). This stand definitely targets the conspicuous consumers, the consumers who attempt to display class and status through purchase or consumption of high culture (in this case, it's music). By looking at the music CDs on this stand, I realized that it was mostly French and English music. The only somewhat-Arabic CD collection was the special edition of "Belaaks", an album created by Jean Marie Riachi.

   

The album features different artists, most of them are unknown. The album includes some English and French songs in addition to the Arabic ones. The music is a mixture of Jazz and Arabic music. The album is named after the song "Belaaks" which uses Arabic lyrics along with the instrumental music of the famous song "Perhaps".

   

If this music stand does anything other than appealing to conspicuous consumers, it proves the notion that highbrow and lowbrow cultures are socially constructed. They are not given truths, but they are carefully chosen by decision makers, even if its in something as small as Virgin Megastores. However, the main question remains: why is it that what we consider to be highbrow culture in the Arab world is usually foreign, while if something is more authentic, it would be seen as lowbrow culture?

Female Participation in Equestrianism

This short video shows an insight of what equestrianism means to the Qatari culture and the subculture of female riders. Female horse riders are challenging the societal gender norms in Qatar by conforming to their culture and traditions, yet at the same time, 're-fashioning' what it means to be a woman. 

We should also keep in mind that, treatment of women in Islam has changed according to the patriarchal system and solely because male scholars have interpreted most texts.  This video examines how women have accommodated their role in society and still manage to take part of equestrianism. 

Mahdiyeh from Mahdiyeh on Vimeo.

L.O.T - Rap group in Qatar.

This short video explores the work of a semester long subculture study. I am a fan of Hip Hop and chose to study the rap music scene in Qatar, more precisely a rap crew called L.O.T, which stands for Leaf of Trust. It is composed of 4 young rappers from Egypt and Sudan, and their Qatari Manager.
These young rappers aim to guide society into a better and more optimistic understanding of life. They aim to do so through their music and lyrics. I studied L.O.T by observing them and interviewing them in their own surroundings, which include the home studio they record in and the Student Center in Qatar Foundation. I was very welcomed into their "circle of trust" and got to know them all on a more personal level. This video shows what I have collected from my field work, so sit back enjoy, listen, and watch rap stardom getting raised in this tough and closed minded society.

Final Video: Gym Rats in Qatar

This video explores the emerging Gym Rats and bodybuilder subculture in Doha, Qatar. It features several segments taken from in-depth interviews with different members of the subculture: Saoud, Omar, Mai, Muzammil and Coach Raymond. Interviews and filming took part in the span of a week at different gyms in Qatar including the Al Massa gym, the Recreation Center gym and the Student Center Gym. The focus is primarily on what it means to go to the gym, why people are so obsessed with the gym and why it is such a large part of their life, what they eat and what they do at the gym, and the issue of authenticity and steroids. This video serves as a parallel to my final paper that focuses on the question of how gym rats establish themselves as legitimate members of the Gym Rat subculture in terms of performance practices and authenticity.

Gym Subculture from Caitlin Sewell on Vimeo.

Mighty Jokerz

During the Doha Tribecca Film Festival, we came across a group of very talented B-Boys. After talking to them some more, we realized their lifestyle really defines what a subculture is. Check out our video below to learn more about the B-boys and B-girls that make up the Mighty Jokerz:

The (Blind?) Glorification Behind Modernization

My parents and I have always had an interesting relationship to say the least. Don’t get me wrong, I love and cherish them greatly. However, when it comes to seeing eye-to-eye on certain matters, a clashing does occur. I have never wondered or gave the topic a second thought until Phil Cohen’s ‘Subcultural Conflict and Working-class Community’ was assigned as a reading for class last week.

In order to explore some tensions behind parent and youth cultures I decided to visit my mother’s old house. Forty years ago, my mother lived, with her family, in Musheireb - as did many of the locals in Qatar. It was where a strong community once lived. Regardless of the poor state the inhabitants of the area had a strong bond. I’ve noticed that many of my father’s friends, including my dad, are able to speak Persian and Indian. This is because most children that lived in that close community played outside and bonded on a day-to-day level.

While exploring the area of Musheireb with my mother I can sense the personal attachment she has for the area, even though she hasn’t lived there for twenty-five years.
Around twenty-five years ago the locals began to move out of the area. “Gradual depopulation” was evident at the time. The government bought some of the houses to concentrate on “building new estates.” An example of this would be the expansion and reconstruction of Souq Wagif.

Modernization has its advantages of course; redevelopment brought more opportunities and bettered the “material conditions” of many. However, a clash between parent culture and youth culture is somewhat present. Traditions of the past seem to no longer or rarely exist. When my parents speak of their childhood there is less emphasis on material consumption and more on how strong their community was. The different lifestyles that their children have and the one they had years ago differ to a great extent. It is only natural that parents worry about the BBM lifestyle and the vast changes that seem to swirl around them. The ideology of spectacular consumption and the traditional ideology of production seem to clash. There is a great emphasis on consuming products, especially with some of the youth culture. Also, there seems to be less interest in producing as opposed to consuming. Some of the youth culture in Qatar seem to have “weaken links” in relations to “historical and parent culture.” However, some events taking place in Qatar seem to try to reconnect youth to traditions of the past. For example, on Tuesday November 13th, I attended a Dhow event that took place in Katara. It showcased the traditions of the past and had mini stalls that show how pearl diving was and fishing was conducted. The event could be trying to reconnect and educate youth about past times and also give the parent culture a trip down memory lane.

It leaves me to wonder how things will be in twenty-five years. The thought is almost haunting.

From Art to Politics!

Politics or art? This art work was sprayed by Banksy on the apartheid wall in Palestine. Banksy is a street artist. Street artists use different mediums to show their art in the streets. Banksy’s real identity is anonymous. Yesterday, I watched “Exit Through the Gift Shop,” which is a documentary about street art and Banksy. What does the whole movement of street art mean? And why is significant?



The narrator stated, “Street art was poised to become the biggest counter cultural movement since punk.” While the film is supposed to be about Banksy, it ended up being about the person who was planning to make the film. He calls himself Space Invader. He started by taking videos of the street artists. Later, he becomes part of the street art subculture. A subculture is a group of people who share a style, language, type of music, activities and beliefs. He becomes involved in their activities and later performs street art himself. But, what do Space Invader and the street artists have in common?

Space Invader makes his living through selling used clothes. He would buy them cheap and see people paying lots of money to buy a piece from him because it would have a designer name. The street artists are opposed to consumerism and the hegemonic ideology of the people, which prevent them from seeing the things going on around them. The concept of hegemony refers to the way people perceive some things as common sense. Hegemonic ideas are ideas that most of the people believe and see as being the common sense ways to think or behave. The hegemonic ideology of most of people is to consume products and to understand the world in the way it is shown through media. As a shopkeeper, Space Invader has understood how consumerism is stupid. People were paying a lot of money just because of the brand’s name. Street artists and Space Invader share the same belief about consumerism.

Through street art they perform a type of cultural resistance. Stephen Duncombe perceives cultural resistance as “culture that is used, consciously or unconsciously, effectively or not, to resist and/or change the dominant political, economic and/or social structure.” The definition can be seen visually through street art.

(Screenshot from the film)

The sculpture above was made by Banksy. It is a resistance against the social hegemonic idea of respecting a national symbol that does not mean anything. Banksy uses the street art culture to change the way people perceive symbols. Whether Banksy was conscious about the message he is sending or not, and whether his art would be affective or not, doesn’t matter. Either ways, it is considered cultural resistance.

There are four means of cultural resistance, content, form, interpretation and activity. The content of the message is to attract people’s attention to what they are not seeing or noticing about the worlds around them. For example, by drawing on the apartheid wall in Palestine, Banksy attracted the world’s attention to the wall. The form is concerned with the medium of the message. Street art was always in streets and many people did not understand its purpose. The form is a typical street wall, but it took a step forward by appearing in the film. The different mean allowed the street message to be clearer. The interpretation part is related to the society and how they interpret the art. Before I watched the documentary, I interpreted street art as something beautiful, which is ruining public property. Activity is not only the performance of street art, but also the meaning behind it. When they are drawing on public property they are attracting attention to what people are not seeing. An example of this is the street art on street ads. It reflects the street artists’ belief about being opposed to consumerism.

(Screenshot from the film)

Banksy had an art exhibition in Los Angeles. He brought an elephant that was colored with the same colors of the wallpaper. In the documentary the narrator says that the purpose of the camouflage elephant was to show “how easy it is to ignore the things right in front of us.” Then he continues talking about how the people in media saw “what’s right in front of them.” The reporter in the next shot was talking about animals’ rights.
In the Youth Culture in The Middle East class, we discussed how today’s culture could be tomorrow’s commercial object. This is what is happening with the street art culture. The street art found its way to art auctions, where people were doing what the art itself was opposed to; consuming art in the form of a “commodity.” Spending lots of money just because this artist made this piece of art. Banksy himself comments on this issue saying, “It is not about the money.”

I’m a fan of art that appreciates beauty. I understand and relate to Banksy and the street artist’s resistance. I was an art student, and I didn’t like the way people try to tell others how to see art. It is like a project under construction to spread a hegemonic idea of what art should be. It aim is to teach people to ignore the beautiful art in front of them because it doesn’t follow certain rules. It also encourages consumerism and seeing art as a commodity and doing it to please people. Street artists do art because they like it and they have a message behind it. This is why they never reveal their real identities. For them it’s about the art and the message, and not the fame or the money.