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In January, QAIC announced our 2023 IMPART Artist Grant. This year, we asked emerging and mid-career artists to explore the theme of Technology & the Arts. We were also pleased to announce an esteemed jury panel: Diane Drubay, Dr. J.R. Osborn, Maxime Laprade, Shane Guffogg and Sheika Shaika Al-Thani. Scan the QR code to learn more!

SAVE THE DATE! Starting on October 16th, QAIC will be hosting our third annual IMPART Summit. Check our website for exciting updates on what’s in store.

Pearls of Wonder: a digital era is an immersive digital art exhibition that premiered in Washington, D.C. in June 2023. This exhibition explores and recounts the rich and involved history of pearl diving in Qatar, which is vastly intertwined with the country’s traditions and culture.

Featured Artists

May Almannai | Alanoud Al-Buainain |

Saida Al-Khulaifi | Maryam Al-Homaid |

Mohammed Faraj Al-Suwaidi

May Almannai | A Journey To The Past

About the art ... A window into the nineteenth century, when pearl diving was prevalent in the region. The journey of a pearl diver began with a beach ceremony. The different crews would stand next to their vessel and bid farewell to their families and others standing onshore as they took to the sea.

The five artists featured in this exhibition –Mohamed Faraj Al-Suwaidi, Maryam Al-Homaid, Alanoud Al-Buainain, May Almannai and Saida Alkhulaif – are alumni of Qatar Museum’s (QM) Fire Station, a contemporary art space committed to supporting artists through its Artist in Residence program. The exhibition was curated by QM’s Curator of Contemporary Art, Dr. Bahaa Abudaya, who says, “I’m delighted to have had the opportunity to share these artists’ work outside of Doha and bring a piece of our culture to the United States through an exhibition highlighting an important part of our nation’s history, our pearling industry.”

Pearls of Wonder premiered in December 2021 at the contemporary art space, Lavan541, in New York City as part of the Qatar-USA 2021 Year of Culture. This annual initiative is run by Qatar Museums (QM) under the leadership of its Chairperson, Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, and is an international cultural exchange which deepens understanding between nations and their people.

Qatar and Pearls

Before the discovery of oil and gas, the pearl trade made up most of the region’s exports. This industry has ancient roots: classical writers such as Isidorus

Saida Al-Khulaifi | Pearls of Rain

About the art ... An old myth says that pearls are created when oysters swallow raindrops. In the Arabian Peninsula, a land rarely blessed with rain, pearl diving was a leading source of income until oil was discovered and cultured pearls dominated the market. Pearls of Rain imagines a foggy dream and nostalgic memory of the artist’s great grandparents who lived in that period.

Mohammed Faraj Al-Suwaidi | Bubbles and Pearls

About the art ... Bubbles and Pearls explores the concept of time and evolution. Pearl diving was one of Qatar’s main industries until the early 1930s. The art installation conceptualizes the progression of pearls’ value throughout time. The journey leads to the introduction of natural gases, marking an end to the pearling industry and a new beginning in Qatar’s development.

and Pliny the Elder reference the pearl industry of the Gulf region. Its prominence continued into the Islamic period, continuing up to the early 20th century.

Over a four-month-long summer period, scores of dhow boats full of divers, sailors, and pullers headed out to the pearl banks situated off the shore in shallow waters. As much as a quarter of the population from Arab Gulf shore states were involved in the business.

These teams were made up of a mix of locals from regional tribes, as well as current and former slaves from Africa and the Asian subcontinent.

Pearling was physically demanding and highly dangerous work. The men on these voyages were subject to animal attacks, decompression sickness, and drowning.

Alanoud Al-Buainain | Vestige (Recollections)

About the art ... Influenced by the round, spherical shape of the pearl and its radiance, Vestige (Recollections) reflects on the world of pearl diving. Through re-recorded archival footage, montaged with animations and videos created and filmed by the artist, the mirrored elements continue beyond the surface of the pearls, into the inner shell of the oyster, the sea, and parts of the dhows. The sound features recordings by the artist of the sea, glimpses from pearl diving archival resources, brought together with rhythms, such as handclaps and drum beats, that appear in the songs performed by the pearl divers on their journeys.

Maryam Al-Homaid | Singing Narratives Within The Deep Sea

About the art ... As a local millennial living through the drastic rapid economic and cultural change within Doha, Qatar, she often finds herslef striving to reconnect with her family’s past. Her grandfather had a crucial role during the pearl diving era. He and may other men sacrificed their lives diving deep in the sea, hunting for pearls for months during the brutal summer heat of the region.

Hundreds of thousands of oysters were harvested in the search for pearls and the mother-of-pearl. These luxury goods were used in jewelry and clothing and sold in far-off global markets. Europe, North America, India, Persia, and the Ottoman Empire all clamored for stones whose quality was said to out-rival all others.

In the early 20th century, the industry collapsed after the dual seismic shifts of the Japanese introduction of artificially produced pearls into the global market, and shortly after, the discovery of oil and gas. However, the vestiges of Qatar’s pearl diving industry remain through the stories of elders, and the interest in exploring this rich history through activities such as diving and in the work of contemporary artists.

Maryam was inspired by the great poet Mubarak bin Saif Al Thani and his poem, The Remains of a Diving Ship, for this piece. In this poem, he talked about observing an abandoned ship lying by the seashore. The remains of the boat are left on the seashore for the next generation to witness.

Each of the exhibiting artists in Pearls of Wonder take inspiration from their own family’s history, archival footage, poetry and myths to explore the multifaceted history and culture of Qatar’s pearl diving industry through virtual reality, video, sound and multimedia installations.

This exhibition opened in June 2023 and is generously sponsored by Excelerate Energy.