The Ministry of Culture’s “Seminar Season” in its 4th edition, held the second seminar on Wednesday in partnership with Qatar University (QU) and the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, titled “The Gulf and its Historical Memory”.The seminar witnessed the participation of HE Khalid bin Ghanem al Ali, Member of the Shura Council, Dr Amna Sadiq, Assistant Professor at the Gulf Studies Center at QU, and Dr Al Anoud al Khalifa, Researcher at the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, and was moderated by Iman al Kaabi, Director of the Qatar Media Center. The seminar shed light on the dimensions of historical memory in the Arabian Gulf region and its role in shaping cultural and social identity.HE Khalid bin Ghanem al Ali, said in his presentation titled “Forming Historical Memory” in which he addressed three main axes: memory as a historical source, forming historical memory, and how to reach a reliable historical memory. He stressed that the historian must not accept historical writing from any source without criticism, because it is subject to distortion and projections, but he must strive to compare texts with each other and criticize them. So that he can correct what was intruded into them, to come out of them with a narrative closer to the historical truth. Al Ali said: In order to build a historical memory that can be trusted, and to go beyond the traditional or unconventional and uncritical historical memory, serious Gulf historians must rewrite their history to determine its objectivity or the accuracy of the image conveyed about their societies, which in turn constitutes the historical memory.Al Ali called for the necessity of giving greater value to the local memory that was recorded by its actors, such as the Diwan of Sheikh Jassim, which must come at the forefront of the sources from which we draw the Qatari historical memory, and here we will achieve two goals: the first is either correcting the recovered memory or correcting the recovered memory of the local memory.Al Ali believed that in order to come up with a reliable historical memory, we need several approaches, the most important of which are: going beyond narrative and descriptive writing (traditional history), to the stage of understanding. Then applying scientific theories and methodologies in other social and human sciences such as philosophy and sociology.Dr Al Anoud al Khalifa presented a paper titled “Collective Identity in the Arab Gulf States between Past and Future. Museums as a Model”, in which she explained that the Gulf identity was the result of intertwined historical paths of social, political and economic interactions that shaped the features of belonging over time.She pointed out that collective memory is not merely a retrieval of the past, but rather a dynamic process that constantly reshapes identity according to the transformations witnessed by the region.Dr Al Khalifa explained that the Gulf identity was not fixed or closed, but rather evolved throughout history as a result of political, economic and social variables. Stressing that history is not viewed as a static reality, but rather as a flexible source through which the collective identity is reproduced.She pointed out that Gulf museums provide a model that reflects this development, as their function is not limited to preserving the past, but rather they are living spaces that highlight the ongoing transformations in identity across generations.Dr Amna Sadiq highlighted that the memory of place in the Gulf is an essential element in shaping the Gulf identity. As the Gulf person sees himself as a son of the desert and the sea, in reference to his cultural and economic identity.Dr Sadiq explained that throughout history, the sea has been a source of livelihood through trade, pearl diving and fishing, while the desert has shaped the Bedouin lifestyle, which has reinforced the values of independence and perseverance among the people of the Gulf.She pointed out that the concept of identity goes beyond the environmental dimension to the geographical and national dimension. As the Gulf person describes himself as “son of the Gulf”, referring to the sea that borders the countries of the region, which makes the Arabian Gulf a geographical space for the collective memory of the Gulf. On the local level, the connection of a person to his place of origin is reflected in his description as “son of the neighborhood”, village or city, which reflects the deep connection to the nearby social and cultural environment.Dr Sadiq added that the memory of place in the Gulf was not immune to rapid changes, as the region witnessed multiple oil booms that contributed to reshaping the infrastructure. As the Gulf cities that the population knew in the fifties and sixties of the last century were transformed into modern urban centers at the end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the new millennium.The seminar season will continue until February 25.

Tawfik Lamari
Tawfik Lamari is an editor at Gulf Times. He has several years of mainstream media experience in fortes such as culture, health, social issues, environment and has covered various events across MENA.
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