Gahwa

In 2015 UNESCO recognized gahwa (Arabic coffee) as part of the intangible cultural heritage of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, the Sultanate of Oman and Qatar. Coffee came first from Yemen and now from India/Sri Lanka; the cardamom, saffron, and rose water to scent the  coffee have been imported from India and Iran. Gahwa’s heritage of hospitality, with its ritualized preparation and etiquette of consumption in the majlis, creates visible social  hierarchies, facilitating the creation of communities of people with shared identities. Today, however, gahwa rituals are mostly reserved for special occasions, museum performances and  competitive display. Our research at Qasr al Hosn considers its Bait al Gahwa (House of Coffee) exhibition from the varied perspectives of its designers and practitioners, and local/international tourists. We pose the following questions: What does this interactive tourist encounter mean to different stakeholders in this region along which coffee is still traded? What does this heritage imaginary reveal about the performance of nationalism? Whose stories within and beyond the UAE’s borders” are told? And to what ends? Along with goods come migrant communities, traders, and others whose narratives are often left out of the gahwa story. Together these will allow us to explore the complex histories, memories, meanings and uses of gahwa in the UAE.

Project Researchers