Popular Culture and Political Identity in the Arab Gulf States

Question: Discuss and write a report on the traditions the seafarers music of Kuwait? Answer: Traditions of the Seafarers music in Kuwait During the destruction of Kuwaits archive by Iraq army, the music of Kuwait was well-recorded. However, it is to be noted that Kuwait has retained the traditional music industry even after the Gulf war. Urkevich (2014) indicated that the traditional music of Kuwait is originated from the seafaring heritage of Kuwait. Some of the songs are originated for describing the sailing activities. The names of some of these songs are Al Arda Al Bahariya, al-Nahma, and Fidjeri. It is to be specified that the innovative Kuwaiti music is associated with the influence of many diversified cultures including African and Asian. Taibah and MacDonald (2015) mentioned that Kuwaiti music is considered as the pioneer of emerged contemporary music in Gulf. Some of the performers in Kuwait were considered as the first commercial recording artists in Gulf. These performers are Abdul Kareem, Nawal El Kuwaiti, Abdallah Al Rowaished, Abdul Qader, and Nabeel Shoail. The seafarer heritage of Kuwait is the originator of Traditional Kuwait music. Before the oil exploration of oil, the regional parts of the country were much renowned for composing the traditional music (Funsch 2015). The profession of the musicians was significantly taken into consideration to maintain the heritage and tradition of Kuwait Seafarer (Alsharekh and Springborg 2012). In fact, it is notified that the traditional music originated in Gulf was quite influenced by many of the diversified cultures in the world. The impact of African and Asian cultural traits is much seen in the Kuwaiti music. It is needless to say that the seafaring traditional song of Kuwait was mostly reflecting the emergence of Fidjeri song, which is sung by the pearl drivers and considered as the diversified range of vocal music. The performers are usually from the Coastal Gulf states of Eastern Arabia. The chorus song is led by the main singer with the support of different instruments. The performance needs the involvement of clapping, singing, dancing with earthen water jars, and playing drums. Another traditional music of Kuwait is Liwa , which is mainly performed by the descendant community people from Coast of Swahili. It is to be noted that the Sheedi Community of African-descended also perform such traditional music and arts. In keeping the focus on the Kuwaiti Sailor song, the mentioning of Al Arda Al Bahariya is much significant and the song is accompanied with many of the sailing activities. It is to be mentioned that the Kuwait is much renowned for the originator of contemporary music in the Gulf. In fact, the reputed position of Kuwait is much significant in GCC countries. Another significant music of Kuwait is Fann at-Tanbura, which is also familiar as the dance genre in Arabian state (Alsharekh and Springborg 2012). The involvement of the Tanbura instrument along with the manur and drums is signified for composing and performing the traditional music in these states. However, to sum up, it can be inferred that the traditional music performance in Gulf is associated with the spiritual rituals as well. References Alsharekh, A. and Springborg, R 2012.Popular culture and political identity in the Arab Gulf states(Vol. 6). Saqi. Funsch, L.P., 2015.Oman Reborn: Balancing Tradition and Modernization. Palgrave Macmillan. Taibah, N.J. and MacDonald, M.R., 2015.Folktales from the Arabian Peninsula: Tales of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. ABC-CLIO. Urkevich, L., 2014.Music and Traditions of the Arabian Peninsula: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar. Routledge.