The Dress of Memories presented as part of the touring exhibition on traditional Sardinian costumes held at Al Mirqab Hotel in Souq Waqif on Saturday.
As a cultural superpower, Italy’s immense cultural and historical contribution to the world is beyond measure. Since time immemorial, Italy has been gifting the world with various facets of its culture in a spectacular way.
In Qatar, Italy’s keenness in further bolstering cultural ties has been conspicuously demonstrated through implementation of a robust cultural programme which has effectively promoted cultural understanding among people.
“Here in Doha, the Embassy of Italy is implementing this year an intense cultural programme and we are ready to do more together with Qatari cultural institutions in the fields of arts, music, museums and cultural heritage protection, and to embrace the increased demand of Italian cultural presence in Qatar,” Italian Ambassador Pasquale Salzano stressed in an earlier event.
Italy in Qatar share many things in common including the importance they attach to preserving culture for the coming generations.
Traditional Sardinian costumes showcased at an exhibition at Al Mirqab Boutique Hotel.
“Both our countries are committed to preserve, promote and make their respective cultural heritage as much accessible as possible in order to encourage the inclusive development and dialogue between communities and generations,” said Salzano.
Indeed, Qatar has relished the Italian cultural experience through a rich variety of events in recent months presented by the Italian embassy in collaboration with different institutions, from the “Italian Week” celebrations to the “Italian Design Day” to its active participation in the Katara Dhow Festival through “Casa Italia” to a number of exhibitions, film screenings and seminars, to mention a few.
It is a fact that art, fashion, music and food are the most iconic elements of Italian culture. At the most recent Italian cultural event held on Saturday at Al Mirqab Boutique Hotel, guests had a sampling of all these.
Focusing on the culturally rich and naturally beautiful island of Sardinia, the creative presentation given by Beltimentas group utilised various formats to promote Sardinian identity and heritage through traditional clothing.
The show started with a theatrical performance “The Dress of Memories”, which combines music and dialogue, highlighting the significance and meaning clothes in Sardinia take on in different stages of life and occasions.
“The story is about the relationship between a man and his wife during the First World War and the conversations that they have about the fact that he had been conscripted to go to fight in the war. They speak about the dress of the woman and the meaning that they attribute to those clothes as well as all the stories and the memories related to the clothes that they are wearing,” Alice Capitanio, scriptwriter and director, told local media prior to the performance.
The theatrical piece was followed by a fashion photography exhibition on ethno-anthropologic tradition representing clothing of various Sardinian communities.
“The photo exhibition displays traditional Sardinian clothes that are worn by modern models, the purpose of which is to show and imagine how traditional Sardinian clothes could be a piece of fashion today and could adapt to modern times,” said Capitanio, who is also the artistic director, of the entire show.
Guests look at some of the items on display at an exhibition featuring Sardinian costumes at Al Mirqab Boutique Hotel in Souq Waqif on Saturday. PicS: Abdul Basit / The Peninsula
At the end of the presentation, the guests were able to try the traditional Sardinian costumes and accessories as well as sample authentic Sardinian food including the famous “pecorino sardo” cheese.
Before coming to Doha, the brand new travelling show has already gone to Paris and Moscow last month.
“We had a very strong and positive response during our exhibitions in Moscow and Paris because people really appreciated some of the key aspects of the culture of the island of Sardinia,” said Capitanio.
“In Sardinia, people used to wear traditional clothes that signified individual conditions and personal occasions in their lives; for example there were clothes for grieving or clothes for marriage and people really appreciated that. They also appreciated the fact that nowadays dressing up is used as a vehicle to send a personal message,” she added.
Capitanio said Sardinia is well known in Europe and around the world as a tourist destination for its wonderful nature but its culture is not as well known though Sardinian culture is a very strong and rooted one because as a people Sardinians have been isolated for much of history.
With Qatar’s big investments on the island, Sardinia has become specially relevant to Qatar which is one of the reasons for bringing the show to Doha, stressed Capitanio.
“Lately, Sardinians had the opportunity to learn a lot about Qatar, thanks to Qatar’s investments many had read about Qatar in the news so they started becoming more curious about Qatari culture,” she said.
She believed that the exhibition was a very good and welcome opportunity for cultural exchange and enrichment as both cultures share common traits such as strong familial culture.
Palma Libotte, Chairperson of the Italian Chamber of Commerce, was of the same view on the similarity between Sardinian and Qatari traditions when it comes to their long maritime tradition and traditional weaving and costumes passed on from one generation to the next.
This was not the first time Sardinian costumes had been brought to Qatar. Several years back, Sardinian costumes were featured in an the Made in Italy exhibition organised by the Italian Chamber of Commerce and the Italian Embassy. The costumes generated much interest among Qataris especially shawls which many Qatari ladies loved, said Libotte.
