Poster

Importance of “Sadu”

Towards Uplifting the Importance of “Sadu”: A Weaving Craft Significant in Qatar Heritage
Based on the archaeological evidence, Qatar’s history started many years BC. Efforts have now been made to promote the heritage, culture, and traditions of the country. Sadu is one of the weaving crafts of Qatar’s heritage that is declining nowadays. It is the conventional weaving and hand spinning craft performed mainly by the Bedouin ladies (ancient desert tribes). Sadu was woven using wools collected from camels, sheep, and goats and utilizing special ancient tools from nature. Since then, this has only been practised by specific groups of people like Bedouins. The current young generation of Qatar has very little knowledge and information about this precious weaving craft. Therefore, it is necessary to spread the knowledge about Sadu and its importance (starting from its origin) among the new generation of Qatar. Technologies can be utilised to make this possible. To address this, we have initially made a short documentary film showing the Bedouin people, the Sadu weaving and experienced people describing Sadu, its origin and its importance. The documentary film also includes short interviews with the ladies who practice the Sadu, and how this weaving culture is transferred to the next generation. A documentary film that is accessible to every single individual in Qatar through public libraries, museums and schools can hardly bridge the gap. As a step forward in bringing Sadu into the attention of Qatar’s young generation, we plan to create VR games utilizing the documentary film as a storyline, as the VR gaming platform will help to widen the audience and get more reach as the new generation lean towards technology. The VR game will be executed with the characters and animations eluted from the documentary film. Upon completing the game, the players will also undergo testing to evaluate their understanding of Sadu and the weaving methods.

Afsaneh Eliyas A Shibani

Queen’s University Belfast

Biography
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I am PhD Student in Media and Broadcast, Sonic Arts Research Centre at Queen’s University Belfast. It is the best environment to refine my talent, research skills and interests within the context of an individualized and collaborative plan of focused study that will enable me to achieve my goals.
Most of my work is inspired by heritage visual art, and animation. I am looking to revive the heritage art weaving craft called Sadu in Qatar using VR games for the new generation to preserve the culture of Sadu.
I have been making excellent progress in my research and dissemination, I have attended the GDC 2022 conference and published my paper at the CIVAE Conference 2022 Proceedings where I made a virtual presentation and presented a documentary film.
In 2013 I graduated with MFA in 3D Animation &VFX from AAU. In 2015, I became a faculty member at Qatar University.