Edited by Isso Boulos, Virginia Danielson and Anne K. Rasmussen
Women’s Ensemble in Qatar, 1998. This may be the Ensemble Asma al-Hareth. Courtesy of Scheherazade Hassan.
Drummer, taking a break in a performance by a women’s ensemble, Doha, Qatar, 1998. Courtesy of Scheherazade Hassan.
Pearl fishers’ ensemble (fjirī), Bahrain, 1996. Fjirī is a generic term used mostly in Qatar and Bahrain, for a large corpus of mariners’ songs sung for both work-related purposes and also entertainment. Courtesy of Scheherazade Hassan.
Sa` ad bin Awwad (fjirī), Doha, Qatar, 1987. Courtesy of Scheherazade Hassan.
Firqat Sa`ad bin Awwad, fjirī performance, Doha, Qatar, 1987. Courtesy of Scheherazade Hassan.
Firqat Sa` ad bin Awwad, polyrythmic hand-clapping during a fjirī performance, Doha, Qatar, 1987.Courtesy of Scheherazade Hassan.
Firqat Sa`ad bin `Awwad (fjirī), Doha, Qatar, 1987. Courtesy of Scheherazade Hassan.
Firqat Sa`ad bin `Awwad (fjirī), Doha, Qatar, 1987. Courtesy of Scheherazade Hassan.
Musical instruments used at the fjirī evenings, Doha, Qatar, 1987. Courtesy of Scheherazade Hassan.
Audience at a performance by Firqat Sa`ad bin Awwad (fjirī), Doha Qatar, 1987. Courtesy of Scheherazade Hassan.
Pearl fishers on their ship (fjirī), 1970s. Unknown photographer. The photo is a copy of one from the now-defunct Center for Folk Heritage of the Arabian Gulf Countries in Doha, Qatar.
Pearl fishers’ ensemble (fjirī), Manama, Bahrain, 1996. Courtesy of Scheherazade Hassan.
Pearl fishers’ ensemble, Manama, Bahrain, 1996. Courtesy of Scheherazade Hassan.
Musical instruments used in various performances in the Arabian Gulf. This collection belongs to a dār, a house for culture, in Manama, Bahrain, 1996. Courtesy of Scheherazade Hassan.
Collection of Gulf musical instruments in a dār, a house for culture, in Manama, Bahrain, 1996. Courtesy of Scheherazade Hassan.
An `ayyāla ensemble, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, 1998. Courtesy of Scheherazade Hassan.
An `ayyāla ensemble, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, 1998. Courtesy of Scheherazade Hassan.
An `ayyāla ensemble, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, 1998. Courtesy of Scheherazade Hassan.
An `ayyāla group, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, 1998. Courtesy of Scheherazade Hassan.
Fann al-ṣawt, Bahrain, 1996. Courtesy of Scheherazade Hassan.
Fann al-ṣawt, with the ‘ūd player Ahmad al-Jumairi, Manama, Bahrain, 1996. Courtesy of Scheherazade Hassan.
A srnaj played with drums in a hewa performance by Afro-Arab populations in southern Iraq and the Gulf region. Here, a woman has the spiritual function to direct the space. Manama, Bahrain, 1996. Courtesy of Scheherazade Hassan.
Al-`Ayyāla Bedouin Ensemble performing at a concert at the Institute du Monde Arabe in Paris, 1998. Courtesy of Scheherazade Hassan.
Al-`Ayyāla Bedouin Ensemble performing at a concert at the Institute du Monde Arabe in Paris, 1998. Courtesy of Scheherazade Hassan.
A group in Bahrain performing the Afro-Arab art of heewah, 1996. Courtesy of Scheherazade Hassan.