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www.thepeninsulaqatar.com COMMUNITYCOM | 6 FOOD | 8 ENTERTAINMENT | 12 Indian embassy Barley helps reduce What do Bollywood celebrates National appetite and blood celebrities fear Sport Day sugar level the most? SUNDAY 14 FEBRUARY 2016 Email: [email protected] thepeninsulaqatar @peninsulaqatar @peninsula_qatar BIRD’S-EYE VIEW P | 4-54-5 From the vantage point of four Qatari artists, there is more to souqs than a tourist attraction or a commercial space or a place to while away time. The photographers exhibit what they captured with their cameras at “A Click for a Cause - #ShangrilART” in Shangri-La Hotel Doha. SUNDAY 14 FEBRUARY 2016 | 03 CAMPUS Creative Curriculum at VIS makes children learn better ision International School (VIS) is experimented with play dough creat- making great strides in growth. ing counting and sorting balls by col- The greatest growth is taking our and sizes. Vplace in the Early Childhood Edu- Additionally, using the theme of cation (ECE) programme and in the prima- “Balls” students worked on their Ara- ry and intermediate school grades of our bic language skills through Arabic lan- Elementary School. guage instruction. This enables the At Vision International School, there are native Arabic speakers to make the four Pre-kindergarten classes; students necessary connections between Ar- are between three and four years old. The abic and English thus strengthening classes currently range from 9 to 14 stu- both languages. dents with a maximum classroom enrol- At the end of each unit, teachers ment of 16 students. Additionally, each and students participate in a celebra- classroom is staffed by a qualified early tion of learning. For conclusion of the childhood native English-speaking teacher balls unit, the Pre-K students went on and two qualified and experienced teach- a field trip to the bowling alley. They ing assistants. enjoyed a wonderful outing and were The curriculum used in the ECE pro- able to demonstrate their knowledge gramme is “The Creative Curriculum.” This as they talked about shapes and col- outstanding curriculum encourages stu- ours of the bowling balls and well as dent’s individual growth through super- how to hold and roll the ball. vised play, exploration and instruction. The primary learning goal for our Each unit of instruction features a central ECE Pre-kindergarten students is to “theme.” For example, the theme of “Balls” instil a love of school and a love for as a unit of instruction recently completed learning. The Pre-kindergarten facul- in mid-January, provided students with the ty at Vision International School en- opportunity to learn about science, math, courage students to grow and learn music, art, P E and cooking with the theme through hands-on, engaging and ex- of balls. Students learned what balls are ploratory educational activities and composed of, different types of balls, and play. Applications are now being ac- how to catch and throw a ball; they cre- cepted for all grades at Vision Inter- ated artwork of marbles using paint; they national school. BPS bids farewell to Class XII students irla Public School bid fare- of the class photograph. well to the 7th Batch of Class Every student had a candle lit by BXII students who will be sitting the class teacher and the headmis- their final exams from March 1. tress. They planted them in a tray Johua Demello and Cini Ann were symbolically offering the collective crowned as ‘Mr Birla’ and ‘Ms. Birla’, prayer to God Almighty. As a mark of for being the best in etiquette and knowledge and enlightenment, the decorum; they shared cake with the candles also reflected the student’s entire school leaving students. confidence and determination. The outgoing students contribut- Lukose K Chacko, Chairman; A K ed to the school a sum of money as a Shrivastava, Principal; Shirley Rappai, mark of their tribute which could be Senior Vice-Principal, and George Ed- used for academic purpose. ison, Vice-Principal attended the cer- Later the students received the emony hall tickets to the accompaniment Arjun Ramesh, Head Boy and of hymns rendered by the students. MeghaMibu, Head Girl paid tribute to Each candidate received the Hall the school on behalf of the student Ticket along with a pen and a copy body. 04 | SUNDAY 14 FEBRUARY 2016 COVER STORY A look at Qatari tradition and souqs through the lense By Raynald C Rivera Doha Today of his “Over the Souq” col- The Peninsula lection. He imagines the view as if he were a falcon roaming curiously over the tra- ditional buildings. ouqs are a quintessential ele- “I wanted to cover a larger radius ment firmly woven into the very and I could only do that from a bird’s fabric of Qatar’s fascinating cul- eye view, that’s why I took it from this Stural landscape. angle so I could give a full and proper No tourist has, perhaps, not paid a sense of the movement of a large mass visit to Souq Waqif to purchase a thing of people in the area.” or two to remind him of the trip or On his choice of subject, he ex- take photos of the souq’s rustic-look- plains, “The souq is an important part ing buildings planted along its cob- of Qatar’s history and tradition. I per- blestone-paved alleyways immersing sonally like the traditional aspect of themselves into the Qatari culture and the souq and the traditional aesthet- tradition. ic of the area.” From the vantage point of four Qa- His interest in photography began turned into a passion that Khalid wants “This is purely a hobby and pas- tari artists, there is more to souqs than three years ago as a fun activity with to pursue in not so remote future. sion project but once I graduate and a tourist attraction or a commercial his friend and ended with him buying “I just don’t love photography. I’m have more time in my hands, I will have space or a place to while away time. a professional camera. very passionate about it, but I slowed more time to dedicate towards my For Khalid Al Shibli, more important “It started as a friendly competi- down temporarily because of academ- passion and travel to do more nature are the people who visit the souq and tion between me and my friend using ic commitments. I’m currently a senior and landscape photography.” he attempts to capture their move- our phones. Then it sparked my inter- student in Qatar University taking Busi- Young writer, blogger and photog- ments from above. est in photography so I started using ness.” rapher Tahani Al Hajri focuses on tradi- “I was looking at the souq as one big a professional camera and when I dis- Khalid’s photos are part of the “A tional handicraft in her photos includ- organism. I wanted to capture the nat- covered the many features that I could Click for a Cause - #ShangrilART”- ed in the expo. ural organic flow of the people, how utilise I engaged more in photography group exhibition featuring four Qa- “My collection is called “Our Past. It they interact with the souq as they using professional camera.” tari artists organised by QTalent and is about traditional handmade trades saunter on its alleyways,” Khalid told What started as a pastime has Shangri-La Hotel Doha. popular in the past,” she explains. SUNDAY 14 FEBRUARY 2016 | 05 COVER STORY Apart from her penchant for any- thing locally made, Tahani’s interest on photographing Qatari handicraft was born out of commitment to preserve an important part of her culture that she fears will be forgotten as progress accelerates. I love traditional scenes, handicraft in particular, and I document them through my camera because people begin to forget them. I took this photo of an old man doing craft by hand in a festival in Katara. I just took this photo in order for people not to forget it. To preserve traditional Qatari hand- icraft, “I think the younger generation have to learn from artisans because there are not lots in Qatar now. People should be encouraged to learn from them because after sometime peo- ple might forget about them. They will just buy online and forget all our hand- made products.” She first ventured into photogra- phy in 2008 and until now it remains a hobby she has always desired when time permits. collected by many curators around the “I don’t do it all the time. I just like world. to capture moments, historical places, Ameera Radhi shifts the viewers’ at- traditionally handmade objects,” says tention to the walls of the buildings Tahani, who has always been a globe- in souqs in her “Old is Gold” collection. trotter and blogger. Using her lens, Ameera creates a strik- “I like to travel a lot to new places ing contrast between the rustic monot- and destinations like Poland and Hun- onous walls with the clear bright sky. gary where I took a lot of photos which A VCU-Q student, Ameera is al- I plan to exhibit in the future.” so an amateur filmmaker and founder Having been to various cities around of QomraQtr photography group and the world, however, it there is no place says her goal is to “Translate thoughts like home which for her stands out in into visual materials.” a special way. The exhibition is the inaugural pho- “Qatar is unique because it has man- to expo for both Qatar Talent (QTalent) aged to strike a balance between mod- and Shangri-La Hotel Doha. ern and traditional which you can’t find “We collaborated with Shangri-La in other countries.” Hotel to organise this photography ex- Another artist whose works are fea- hibition that features four Qatari pho- tured at the expo is veteran profession- tographers whose collections are in- al photographer Rashed Al Mohannadi, spired by their own vision of the souq,” whose collection looks at common ob- said QTalent founder Maryam Al Sub- “Fifty percent of the sales will be do- added Maryam.