The Sultanate of Oman lies on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula facing the Arabian Sea. This position at a crossroads between Asia and the Mediterranean Sea has created a complex culture drawing on the country's Arab roots as well as its long-standing contracts with India, East Africa and the Middle East. For 5,000 years Oman has traded throughout the region, its ships have traveled to China and its caravans to Rome, giving the country a surprisingly cosmopolitan history.
This complex history has been grounded in a firm belief in Islam to which the people of Oman converted in the 7th century A.C.E., soon after the death of the prophet Mohammed. This faith and the leadership of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said today unite people with broadly different experiences and histories. This diversity is perhaps best represented by Oman's three vastly different ecologies – the desert, the oases and the sea. Each has contributed to the cultural wealth of the nation.
The 2005 Smithsonian Folklife Festival program on Oman featured over 100 musicians, dancers, craftspeople and cooks representing cultural traditions from the desert, oases and sea. Sturdy leather and palm leaf milking baskets and decorative wool camel trappings from the Wahiba Sands region are made for easy transport by nomadic desert peoples. At the Festival, they provided a striking contrast to the heavy copper vessels and elaborate silver jewelry produced by craftsmen in the oases towns such as Nizwa. Proud boat builders from the ancient port of Sur demonstrated skills that made Omani ships renowned throughout the Indian Ocean. The fabled frankincense that in some ways represented to the ancient Mediterranean world what oil does to modern economies still grows in the southern hills above Salala, and is still used throughout Oman. A section of the program featured a variety of Omani adornments including aromatics such as frankincense, clothing, and jewelry.
Most Omani music accompanies dance and is present at celebrations of all kinds around the country. Music and dance celebrate births and weddings, are used for healing and at times of national pride. Men and women dance accompanied by musical instruments that display the cultural influences of the larger region – stringed instruments from the Arab world, wind instruments from Persia, drums from Africa, and even bagpipes, originally from Egypt but more recently played by British military troops in residence in Oman, all influence the sounds of Omani music. Musical ensembles from Sohar on the northern Batinah coast, Quriyat outside Muscat and Salala, in the southern governorate of Dhufar entertained and instructed audiences in the joys of Omani celebrations.
Daily children's activities in the Oman: Desert, Oasis, and Sea program featured games, drumming workshops, henna decorating, and much more in the Sabla Narrative Area and Adornment Pavilion. Omani cooks demonstrated Omani dishes and spoke about Omani hospitality in the Muscat Kitchen.
The 2005 program was the first to feature an Arab nation at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Arabs and Arab-Americans have participated in past Festivals but this program provided an opportunity to focus on Arab culture at a time when it is much misunderstood around the world. Audiences were able to meet Omani men and women face to face and with this contact the Oman program may be able to dispel many myths about the Arab world and certainly included a few surprises for even those knowledgeable of the region.
This program was produced in partnership with the Ministries of Heritage and Culture, Tourism, Information and Foreign Affairs and the Public Authority for Crafts Industries of the government of the Sultanate of Oman and with the cooperation of the Middle East Institute.
Schedule of events, Read here.
