Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
It shouldn't be supposed that just because traditional music plays a big part in contem-
porary Arab life, it's the only form of music. Pop music, especially of the Amr Diab type,
is ubiquitous and nightclubs are popular. There's even a classical orchestra in Oman and
there are bagpipe bands.
Books: Arabian Arts
Contemporary Architecture in the Arab States (Udo Kultermann)
Islamic Arts (Jonathan Bloom & Sheila Blair)
Craft Heritage of Oman (Richardson & Dorr)
Crafts
If there's one area in which function and form are most noticeably linked, it's in the craft
traditions of the Peninsula - in the jewellery, silversmithing, weaving, embroidery and
basket-making crafts that form the rich craft heritage of the Peninsula. Take jewellery, for
example - the heavy silver jewellery, so distinctively worn by Bedouin women, was de-
signed not just as a personal adornment but as a form of portable wealth. Silver amulets,
containing rolled pieces of parchment or paper, bear protective inscriptions from the Qur-
an, to guarantee the safety of the wearer. At the end of the life of a piece of jewellery, it is
traditionally melted down to form new pieces as an ultimate gesture of practicality.
The sad fact of practical craft is that once the need for it has passed, there is little in-
centive to maintain the skills. Where's the point of potters in Al-Hofuf, Saudi Arabia and
Bahla, Oman making clay ewers when everyone drinks water from branded plastic
bottles? Aware of this fact, many governments throughout the region have encouraged the
setting up of local craft associations in the hope of keeping alive such an important part of
their heritage. Some of the best-supported ventures in the region are the Bedouin weaving
project at Sadu House in Kuwait City and the women's centres in Manama and Abu Dh-
abi.
The Omani Heritage Documentation Project is another worthy enterprise. Launched in
1996 to document Oman's great craft heritage and envisage ways to ensure its survival, it
resulted after eight years of study in a two-volume book,
The Craft Heritage of Oman
,
which has become the definitive guide to Oman's cottage industries. It is an inspiration to
anyone with an interest in the arts and crafts of Oman and an invitation to other Peninsula
countries to follow suit.
Ultimately, however, when a craft is hollowed of its function, when it provides a mere
curiosity of the past or is redefined to provide souvenirs for tourists, it becomes only a
shadow of itself.
