Bahrain's most celebrated historian is busy digging deep, literally, into her country's rich reservoir of heritage, which goes back 5,000 years, with the aim of installing the tiny kingdom as "the cultural centre" of the Gulf region.
With dozens of historic sites, a world-recognised museum and all year round art galleries, "Bahrain is unlike any other place in the Gulf," said Sheikha Mai Al Khalifa, who sits at the helm of the cultural and national heritage body in Bahrain.
"Installing Bahrain as the regional cultural capital is my life mission. But first, the department should be taken off the ministry's umbrella," she told Gulf News in an interview at her spacious office in the National Museum.
Mai is a member of the royal family and the author of seven well-received books dealing with the history of Bahrain. She has been leading the culture and national heritage department at the Ministry of Information as an assistant undersecretary since October last year.
Having an independent body for culture is a goal for which she has been struggling from day one, she noted. Like most Arab countries, the culture department comes under the ministry of information. That is wrong, Mai argued.
She explained: "You cannot have the creative aspect of the country under a bureaucratic body. That is unfair for the artists, the poets and the country's heritage in general. It is kind of a jihad for me to get an independent cultural department in order to help improve the culture in the country."
It is a tough mission but Mai certainly knows what she is talking about - she has done it before.
On her own, except for the support of her husband, Mai, who is in her mid-40s and a mother of three, transformed her grandfather, the late poet Sheikh Ibrahim bin Mohammed Al Khalifa's old house in Muharraq into a prominent cultural spot.
The Sheikh Ibrahim Centre for Culture and Research, opened in January 2002, has since introduced various activities, including galleries and lectures by leading Arab intellectuals such as Lebanese political scholar Ghassan Salamah, famous Saudi poet and minister Ghazi Al Qusaibi, Egyptian scholar Nasr Abu Zaid and UAE author Moaza Ghubash.
"In a short period of time, the centre has won prominence among Arab intellectuals and that encouraged us to add to it more cultural attractions," she said.
She is working on a multi-element project to complement the centre. A centre for the history of print media in Bahrain, the first of its kind in the region, will be opened in October.
Mai said the centre will be in the old house of Abdullah Al Zayed, Bahrain's pioneering journalist, who died early in the last century. Then, there is Dar Al Sawt, which will be dedicated to the traditional Gulf music style of Sawt.
The Sawt, originated in Bahrain and developed by the late musician Mohammed bin Fares, is in danger of "becoming history", she said.
"It should be revived because it has always been the true essence of Bahrain's music." There will also be the Kurar House which will offer visitors a chance to learn about Bahrain's traditional embroidery art.
"These are self-motivated initiatives supported in part by Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa and also by some in the private sector," she said. Another important part of her 'mission' involves Bahrain's historical sights.
The Kingdom, known by different names, such as Dilmon and Aradous, during different periods in history that goes back thousands of years, is famous for its forts. Along the forts of Rifaa, Saar and Arad, there is the world-known Bahrain Fort. The latter is keeping Mai busy more than ever.
She is in constant contact with international organisations to get the fort recognised by the UN body as a heritage site. "Our historical sites had been neglected for so long that they were threatened," by the fast paced modernisation of the country, she explained.
The Bahrain Fort, for example, was threatened by the commercial reclamation of the sea around it. Mai campaigned on behalf of the fort and she managed to get the reclamation stopped.
Bahrain Fort was built under the ruler of Bahrain "Ajoor" who was from an Arab tribe in Saudi Arabia sometime after 1515 and before 1521.
The mound which is situated next and underneath the fort holds the ancient cities of Dilmon, which extended from 2400 BC to the end of the Dilmon era in 539 BC.
The site is a witness to many battles throughout history, and has been neglected over the years, Mai said. It has an enormous significance, there is no similar site in the Gulf that holds such historical wealth. Simply, it is an encyclopedia of human history, she stressed.
Mai now is working closely with the leading French archaeologist Dr Monique Caravan and international organisation to register the mound, fort and coastline under the list of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organisation (Unesco) of important international historical sites.
Mai also plans to make the fort a major tourist attraction. "That will surely happen but it might take a couple of years." She added: "My dream is to get the people from the region come here and enjoy what Bahrain's rich heritage has to offer. This is also good for the national economy."
Bahrain, which exports only 150,000 barrels of oil per day, is considered the less affluent member of the six-member GCC. "Historical tourism can boost our economy," said Mai.
The tough campaigns she is leading on behalf of Bahrain's historical wealth, however, doesn't seem to take her away from her true passion- writing about those whom history tends to ignore.
Her latest book, A Restless Warrior, is about former ruler Sheikh Abdullah bin Ahmed Al Khalifa. It traces the life and struggles of the ruler against the colonial powers of the time. But little has been said about him in the history of the region.
"I am obsessed with the forgotten history makers," she said. "The more I search the more I find somebody our history seemed to neglect. You could call it an attempt to correct history."
"As if these faces are calling on me to tell their story," she wrote in the book's introduction. She already published seven books, documenting details only a few had dared to approach, such as the life of a former ruler of the country, Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa.
There also is the book about the diaries of Sir Charles Belgrave, the powerful councillor of the government from 1926 to 1957. Her writing about the man was somewhat controversial, she acknowledged.
"Many people had written about him but failed to give him the credit for some of the good things he did here," said Mai, who praises the English politician for his work to "establish a truly modern system of administration in Bahrain."
Back to the present, she likes to talk about one of the achievements - the National Museum - which she now calls home. "It is the most important cultural front of Bahrain," said Mai, who managed to get the museum renovated. It is now open for visitors 12 hours a day seven days a week.
"The experience has been successful and rewarding," she said with obvious satisfaction. But her other campaigns continue.
Gulf News
