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.

Let’s Play the Subculture Game

Souq waqif in Doha, Qatar, is one of the most common places residents go to enjoy traditional food, ranging from Syrian, Italian, Iranian and Lebanese, and to enjoy a good shisha in one of the numerous cafes and restaurants.Souq waqif is a main attraction for tourists because of its “authentic” architecture, souvenir shops and the random stands where people sell handcrafted ornaments or homemade food. The people who work in the stands dress in traditional clothing and focus at the activity they have to engage in.

In front of Damasca, a man dresses in Indian attire sells jewelry, and makes bracelets in front of you if you want a particular design. He is dressed in a specific clothing style and he has particular way of talking, as he knows terms that are specific to the jewelry-making community, but is this man part of a subculture?

In sociology, subculture is defined as a smaller group within the larger society that can be differentiated by some unique aspects of its behavior, such as clothing styles, linguistic usage or beliefs and values. To answer my previous question, no, just because the man dresses and speaks in a different way, does not make him part of a subculture, but he does engage in a performance of some sort. If I were to consider a group of professional jewelry makers in Qatar who have designs that have demonic symbols on them, then that would be a subculture. That would be because they would be going against the parent culture of religion, and because subcultures are always in some way non-conforming or dissenting.

A performance is the execution or accomplishment of work, acts or feats, and it is an action or proceeding of an unusual or spectacular type. The people who work at the different booths at Souq Waqif are all part of a performance, but their actions could be better defined by the concept of dramaturgy. The front stage consists of them selling traditional clothes, food or ornaments and perhaps making them in front of their audience, as they are dressed in traditional clothing and speak about their craft very specifically. Back stage however, there is all their suppliers and business partners who actually equip them with the finished products.

Souq Waqif - The Kebabization Experience

As a CDA for the dorms on campus I am required to program events each month that engage the residents with the local culture. Last weekend I took the residents on my floor to Souq Waqif for a program titled “Kebabization”. Initially, I intended this program title to be a pun on the various terms in academia that are created with the “ization” standard. However, visiting Souq Waqif was a different experience this time around because I actually had those terms (that I used to come up with “kebabization”) at the back of my head. This allowed me to look at this experience from a relatively new lens.

Souq Waqif, with its fascinating streets filled with budging tourists and locals was as lively as ever. The bus dropped us off in front of a falcon shop. The falcons in the shop were pretty expensive but the falcon shop and other similar “performances” of the local culture reminded me of Cole’s notion of performance in “Bedouiness”. I regard this as a performance, as this is similar to the attempts for the “revival of tradition” in Petra and part of the quest for “authentic” presentation of the local culture. These performances are visible all over Souq Waqif in forms of the many Arab restaurants whose hosts are dressed up in elegant traditional dresses, allowing the visitor to “buy hospitality” as suggested by Cole in the same article.

I have always noticed a particular group of elderly men with carts around Souq Waqif. This time around I found out that they are called the “Hamali”. In sociological terms I would regard this group as a subculture. This is because this group shares unique instruments (their carts), uniforms and space. This aspect helps them stand out in the crowd at Souq Waqif. I have not seen them anywhere else in Doha so far.

Walking around Souq Waqif and noticing global brands like Baskin & Robins present along with the Shujja Iranian Kebab place that we visited hints towards glocalization to an extent. Souq Waqif, as previously mentioned is an attempt to revive Qatari tradition. Cole also describes this as the change from “the Bedouin into wealthy entrepreneurs of international tourism”. This is a confluence of various sociological and modern communications phenomenon presenting a very interesting situation. The architecture of Souq Waqif has always fascinated me. It reminds me of the Prince of Persia games that I played during my childhood. This time, however, with the set of academic inventory with me I observed a certain bricolage in Souq Waqif’s architecture. This is a consequence of the fusion of the modern with the traditional. The traditional, however, in this case is the general Arab tradition because many critics regard the Qatari culture as still in the process of development. The modern, for one, in Souq Waqif’s architecture can be seen in the form of beautiful lighting across the traditional alleyways.

Souq Waqif at first may seem chaotic as any marketplace because there is a lot happening at a point in time. A closer look enabled me to apply the concept of homology, which helped me consider the myriad of micro organisations in the large marketplace. One such organisation is the act of trade. Almost every entity at Souq Waqif engages in some kind of trade; whether you are the buyer or the seller or just a simple visitor, you are definitely taking or giving something either in terms of material and non-material culture.

In conclusion, it can be said that a place like Souq Waqif helps us experience the modern and the traditional in one place. It is a highly recommended place for first time visitors and a definite recommendation for locals who want to relive what Arab culture is all about.

“They have nowhere to go”, said Giovanni.

Over the Spring Break I went to Soug Wagef with my younger brother for some gelato from La Dolce Vita. While we were there, we met the shop owner, Giovanni and began talking about what ended with me thinking of the socialization of people in Qatar’s public spaces on the weekends and the Indian culture and movies.

Last class we discussed Masala films, Indian society and culture, and tradition versus modernity. Generally, Masala films last for three hours, which is much longer than the amount of time a typical Western movie would last. The reason for this is because during Indian summers, the weather gets very hot making it difficult to spend most of the day outdoors and many of the people living their come from poor backgrounds. Therefore, what many Indians do is purchase theatre tickets and spend three hours indoors watching a movie in air conditioned environment.

During our conversation with Giovanni we talked about weekends at Soug Wagef and how labor workers who consist of mostly Indians are not permitted inside because of “family day”. The reason for this rule is because many women feel uncomfortable because these labor workers just hang around and “stare”. However single males who are not labor workers are permitted into the soug. This is not just the case in Soug Wagef but also in all the malls.

The reason labor workers just hang around in public spaces and “stare” instead of going to a movie during the hot hours of the day is because they cannot afford to given the low wages they are paid. 30QR is a large sum when you are paid a monthly wage of only 600QR –some of which you want to send back to your family. All these labor workers are looking for are air conditioned cheap or free spaces. 

There exists a problem for both women and labor workers living in Qatar. The labor workers want to avoid the hot sun during their free time and the women want to feel comfortable. Since going to the movies and watching three hour long Bollywood productions is what Indians do back in their home country to avoid the summer heat, I am sure they would not mind doing that here either. Currently, the cheapest movie theatre in Qatar is Gulf Cinema, which also happens to play many Masala films. As a solution, the companies in sponsoring the labor workers could look into this matter and consider opening another lower priced movie theatre for their workers so that they could spend their free time –maybe even in the Barwa project by the Industrial area.

Souq Wagif

Visiting the city of Doha would not be completed unless one sits in one of the coffee shops at Souq Waqif and enjoys the tranquility that the place possesses. Souq Waqif is one of the best and favored destinations for many citizens and visitors, because it offers a genuine cultural atmosphere that is inspired through the ancient-looking buildings. The souq provides the visitors with the appealing sense of the Arabic and Islamic civilizations that are remarkably outstanding on the detailed and mesmerizing designs. The whole concept of having a distinguished design of the souq’s buildings is to identify the visitors with the story of Qatar back in the days when houses were built from clay, and notice the major transformation that occurred over the years. With the availability of traditional stores, visitors experience the old shopping habits that revolved around Qataris and merchandise.






‘Wagif’ in Arabic means standing in a rigid position, but this name was not the very first name that was used to call this souq. It was known as Souq Almakbarah, which means cemetery souq. Previously, there used to be a cemetery that was right in front of Souq Wagif, but it was then taken over to build a parking area for the visitors, and that was when the name changed to ‘Wagif’. One of the outstanding features of the souq, is the first hotel built in Doha that was named ‘BismAllah’ when it first was built. The hotel consists of 15 rooms and a restaurant next to the reception area.





Aside from the hotel, there is ‘Asheerij Café’ that serves traditional coffee and dishes such as Harees, algeemta, madrooba and bajela. This café has an open space right on its second floor for visitors to enjoy shisha in the fresh air. Also, it attracts people to come in by hosting various khaliji musicals to rise up the traditional atmosphere.





What I personally like about Souq Wagif is the diverse atmosphere that is built when citizens and tourists come together. A group of foreign people can sit in a traditional coffee shop and discuss an entirely different culture. This sort of interaction remarks the fondness that occurs between two totally different cultures that are brought together for amusement and relaxation.

Progress In Souq Waqif

Two types of progress are seen in souq waqif and sociology allows us to track these diverging behaviors in cultural behavior. One is cultural progress. Specifically, I am talking about the art exhibitions that are held in the galleries and some of the restaurants found there. The second kind of progress is that of westernization and globalization.

I have been to souq waqif many times and each time I go there, I am amazed at both of these types of progresses.

I remember the first time I ever went to souq waqif was with my school, and I remember telling one of my friends “Why is there a Baskin Robbins in the middle of souq waqif? Isn’t this supposed to be a cultural place?” What I had failed to realize then was that even though Baskin Robbins was not part of my culture, it is still part of culture- just not mine. Baskin Robbins’ motto is “Your Neighborhood Ice Cream Store” which shows how dominant it is in American society, or how dominant it wants to be. I can’t be the judge of that because I’ve never actually been to California- which is where Baskin Robbins first started out. The same goes to the restaurants in souq waqif, for example the Iranian, the Indian and the Italian restaurants.

Also, another form of cultural progress is the art exhibitions that can be seen in the galleries of souq waqif. One of the exhibitions that I went to focused on Qatari artists and I could actually see the artist painting his work onto the canvas. Not only was it interesting to see an artist at work, creating a cultural object, but it was interesting to see a Qatari one because it was the first time that I’ve seen this type of thing. I’ve also seen an exhibition where more than one person has worked on a piece of art, so it was a collective activity and there was a division of labor amongst the people. I also heard many people talking about their thoughts of the many artworks and each person had a different opinion, which proves that cultural objects are multivocal.

The other kind of progress is the westernization and globalization. The Baskin Robbins example could be put in this category as well. As I previously mentioned, Baskin Robbins started out in the United States of America, specifically the state of California. So the fact that it is located in Qatar means that Qatar is becoming westernized, even if it is through a simple thing like ice cream. Another example of westernization in souq waqif is the fact that many of the cafés have multiple television screens in them that usually play some sort of western sport, usually football. Once when I was walking around the souq, I heard a loud cheering noise coming from the cafés, I assumed a team had won and the people were cheering because of that and that they were experiencing collective effervescence. Another example is the parking lot surrounding the souq. This is part of westernization because the need for parking lots came from the west, which is where cars were invented. Traditionally parking lots were not needed because all people needed were posts to tie their camels to.