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Local Agriculture in Qatar Uncategorized

Blog post 2

Examining Qatar’s National Food Security Strategy from 2018 to 2023.” It aided me in broadening my research and developing my argument as to whether Qatar is cautious of or incorporates the environmental damage as well as how well they ensure food security. As a country with a high rate of pollution, Qatar prioritizes or devotes more attention to capitalism than to ecological issues. Through my research and study of these local documents, I discovered that the Qatar national food strategy plan from the food security department, demonstrates that Qatar tries to minimize environmental harm, whether it is food waste, climate issues and ensures food security. Some of the aims that this department has set are through “guaranteeing that trade routes are varied enough to limit risk exposure, progressing food from the port, helping to ensure that food losses and waste are minimized), with regulatory requirements that promote competition and product liability, and having adequate a sensible reserve capacity to serve as a backup in moments of crisis, both for inputs (water, seeds, fertilizer) and outputs (food products). Researchers also aim to efficiently cultivate crops such as livestock and fish inside the bounds of Qatar’s natural resource base to guarantee a reliable source of decomposable procedure in critical situations.” As  they also provide a framework that allows local produce companies to balance their production while minimizing environmental destruction.

This all confirms that Qatar appears to be trying to restrict and inefficient agricultural practices via different approaches that various departments partnered on to formulate a complete plan to tackle this issue. As I would now argue that Qatar is indeed aware of the damage created on its environment and they are improving the agriculture produce although they have to start  taking action in terms of practicing and implementing their food strategy plan as only minor changes can be observed in which they are still focusing on expanding capitalism. Linking it to the “After oil” Article as we are now living and experiencing petroculture, where we can see the shift in our society and how the power of fossil fuels and the advantages it brings to our country. This article raises an important argument that would fit the current situation in Qatar which is to transition to different sources of energy that don’t revolve around fossil fuels. As in Qatar local produce companies use fossil fuels for many different reasons whether it’s for a labor machine that produces food products or even the packing used for tour food they all require large amounts of fossil fuels. Therefore using more reliable and environmental energy sources will allow those local companies to minimize the damage they cause towards the environment and have a safer approach to food security as well.

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Local Agriculture in Qatar Uncategorized

Baladna Case Study



Baladna plays a crucial part in dairy production in Qatar, part of the growth of Baladna came from having a local farm located in the north of Qatar (Al Khor). Due to lack of time I wasn’t able to go experience the Baladna Farm myself, I took it upon myself to Interview a couple of people that did attend the farm. Most said they went to the farm to have breakfast where all the food was made from local Baladna products. I asked them if they were able to see the factory producing the dairy, to which one replied “Yes, we could, there were modules of cows too. On one area of the farm, we were able to milk the cows ourselves which was fun and out of the ordinary.” Having experiences like this makes locals feel closer to the products that they are eating. This is a social benefit as people can see how their dairy products are being manufactured. However, the interviewees also mentioned that “Although this was an enlightening experience to milk the cows, it could be a health precaution as the cows are being milked by people outside of the factory, which means they could have unsanitary hands or unnecessary germs that come with the produce. Another Interviewee said “It was a very different experience to what we are used to, when going to the farm it felt like a different world. I think it’s because we’re so used to urban life we forget the small things like the beauty of the environment’s structure”.

Naess’s “The Third World Wilderness and Deep Ecology” discusses the western view of wilderness in third-world countries. The key argument is that third-world countries will be evicted from their homes as a reason to make more room for species. Even though all mankind lived in the wilderness in a sense. There is the concept of rich countries being the countries that have deep ecology regimes and they can “afford” the luxury of the wilderness in their nations. I recognize that it’s a big jump to discuss deep ecology with the topic of the introduction of Baladna in Qatar. However, what aspect I am delving into is the concept of development in the agricultural sense. An issue was found in the nation of Qatar, the shortage of dairy products after the blockade and how it is a part of citizens’ desires to consume these products. But ultimately a solution was found, this could be linked to the idea that being a rich country with luxuries in hand is beneficial in acting fast in such situations. Qatar imported cows from abroad and created a new agricultural farm that boosted the economy. Which was critical in making a change and thinking fast to get more cows into Qatar to be placed on a farm to produce.

Why I related this to the text is because Naess suggests that Third World Countries tend to live in deserted areas and “subsistence agriculture” is imposed on them. Gary Synder’s formulation was mentioned in the essay, He believes that the misplacement and the invasion of species are letting the poor not be able to reach economic progress and for the richer countries to be more focused on the urbanization of these countries. By turning these areas in Qatar into agricultural farms, it is not only enabling economic progression but also a better use for the environment. Therefore creating Agricultural farms and moving species into them is not always threatening as the writer suggests. One critique I will say however is how Qatar is seen as a Third World country but also one with a fast economic development, which made Qatar rich and thriving in a short period due to oil reserves. But with the blockade and the need to rely on itself, Qatar’s economy is boosting as well as its environmental aspects that allow people to create a deeper relationship with the environment.

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The National Museum of Qatar Uncategorized

National Museum of Qatar: Sustainable by a Small Scale

The architect of the Qatar National Museum, Jean Nouvel, has been praised by several media outlets for building the “only museum in the world to have achieved high sustainability ratings from multiple internationally recognized and independent bodies.” What are the aspects of the museum that gives it this ‘sustainable’ reputation? Firstly, the
desert rose design is meant to be practical as it acts as an insulator from direct sunlight, minimizing the need for extensive cooling mechanisms. Secondly, the museum encourages visitors to think green by giving priority to electric cars in the parking lot, creating pedestrian and bicycle lanes, and making access to the metro station easier. Now that we know the aspects of the museum that would deem it sustainable, we need to think about its practicality. Nouvel designed this museum in hopes of connecting
the people to the Qatari culture by modeling it after the desert rose, which is a crystal cluster of barytes that is native to the Gulf region, and gaining notoriety for its ‘sustainable’ twist on cultural artifacts. We can see that Nouvel had sustainability in mind in the blueprints of the museum as evidenced by the way the disks are set up to insulate the sun. We can agree on the surface level that these efforts to become a sustainable
building are renowned in their own right, however, how effective is it in lowering the use of carbon emissions in Qatar? One ecocritic, Timothy Clark, examines the cultural criticism modes by emphasizing their blindness to the scale effects in his essay “The Derangements of
Scale”. More specifically, Clark draws on the derangements that resulted from the crisis of scale in environmental movements or slogans. When faced with environmental issues, humanity tends to make itself into a unitary subject and as a result group every environmental issue into a single movement. These jumps from scales tend to make our
sustainable habits unprogressive at a larger scale. The real damage comes from profit- seeking corporations or institutions. With Clark’s ‘Derangements of Scale’ in mind, we can ask ourselves if the
sustainable efforts by Qatar National Museum could be a derangement of scale effects. What does the museum’s prioritization of electric cars in the parking lot instead of carbon-fuelled cars do for the environment if these cars are still allowed on the premises and most of the interior and exterior structure is made out of carbon? This is a clear example of deranged scale effects in Clark’s essay. It is a deceptive fix to environmental
issues because these electric cars are manufactured in a place that is polluting emissions. The structure’s sustainable disks that lessen the need for cooling could also be a deceptive fix. Nouvel has not minimized the problem by reducing the need to cool the building because there are still central cooling systems in the museum, unnecessary use of lights even after closing hours, and gift shops that ironically sell plastic models of the
desert rose. The examples above show that these sustainable efforts of the museum to lower carbon emissions will become distorted when looking at it on a grander scale. What is the point of receiving ‘the most sustainable museum’ award, giving priority to electric cars, and lowering the need to cool the building if, in the grand scheme of things, these efforts will not make a difference in lowering carbon emissions, everything around the museum will continue to use carbon emissions, especially considering they are a corporation that profit off the use of carbon emissions.

https://qm.org.qa/en/stories/all-stories/sustainable-nmoq/
http://www.jeannouvel.com/en/projects/musee-national-du-qatar/

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Local Agriculture in Qatar Uncategorized

Agricultural Industrialization and The Wilderness:

Qatar’s desire to transform the status of its economy, and become an autocratic state solely dependent on itself following the GCC blockade in 2017 has altered a lot of the ways in which the country handles different domestic sectors such as trade and agriculture. For one, the government has endorsed a large sum of funds for constructing the Baladna factory that produces products ranging from all things dairy and fresh produce (tomatoes, greens, etc…). When examining the climate here in Qatar, it is clearly a desert climate which makes it unsuitable to naturally harbor and produce these agricultural goods, therefore the country has employed foreign scientific methods to alter the state of harvest, one the alternatives was crop conversions and the other is a form “climate-smart agriculture” which artificially mimics the state of foreign climates in greenhouses by altering temperatures, humidity and light exposure. Even though these modes of production have been installed to increase the country’s self-dependency, they pose adverse impacts on the existing desert climate in Qatar. The constant utilization of fertilizers, pesticides, and other forms of toxic farming chemicals may alter soil compositions, increase air pollution, and poison the balance of natural elements in the desert climate such as the amount of nitrogen present in the environment, which would interrupt the natural flow of this particular ecosystem. These undesired ramifications ultimately lead to questioning the concept of the ‘wilderness’. Does the exploitation of the natural desert climate alter the social conception of the idea of a wilderness? To put it quite simply, humans have constructed a perception of natural life over the years that depicts a transparent barrier between human and non-human life, also referred to as the wilderness. The wilderness is believed to possess vast natural and even supernatural qualities that are sacred, and key in instilling this conception of separation between human civilization and nature. When a country like Qatar chooses to industrialize its only form of wilderness (the desert) and utilize as well as negatively exploit it to further its own agricultural and independent progression does it alter that conception of a segregated wilderness? Based on William Cronon’s essay, and his classification of the wilderness, it is clear that the Qatari wilderness will lose its foreign and natural elements the more that Qatar utilizes these environments to industrialize and grow, as he perceives the wilderness to be the antithesis of unnatural modern human civilization, therefore it can become quite difficult to separate the two conceptions of nature/non-nature. On a larger scale, if these unscathed environments and ecosystems were to be exploited and invaded globally, will this hinder the idea of a wilderness? What can be said is that if this were to happen an immense magnitude of industrialization must occur all over the world, especially in areas that are considered extensions of that wilderness such as the Amazon and rainforests. The ever-changing cultural conventions in Qatar may soon take a turn to separate the idea of a wilderness and depict its natural desert environment as an extension of their urbanized cityscape and their industry, which is a rather interesting development to Cronon’s original idea of “the wilderness”.

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After Petroculture? Uncategorized

After Petroculture: Application and Relevance of Derangements of Scale

By Iman Saif and Hafsa Najdan

Once again, we will first begin with a quick recap of our previous blog post in order to refresh our readers’ and then we will go forth with our blog post for today. In our last blog post, we applied the secondary source of Hannes Bergthaller essay, “ Fossil Freedoms: The Politics of Emancipation and the End of Oil “ to our case study of petroculture and petromodernity within Qatar. We established the myriad of consequences associated with the culture of petrodependency and the subsequent double-edged sword of moving towards petromodernity; the loss of development, wealth and status are enough to persuade many countries to look the other way in the face of petrodependency. It is this fact that allows us once again to admire Qatar’s decision and strategies (outlined in the first blog post!) to move towards petromodernity. For this blog post, we will be applying the concept of derangements of scale to petromodernity and petrodependency in order to emphasize the importance of this case study to our audience.

The concept of derangements of scale is one that is fascinating as it is subtly intertwined with all aspects of our lives. Let us first establish what exactly the concept of derangements constitutes. Derangements of scale refer to the perception of events on different scales- mainly the subjective, intellectual dismantling in conversations regarding the environment. An environmental issue may be categorized by an individual concerned with his daily habits and ease of convenience as something that is of little value but the same issue could be perceived as a moral call to action by an environmental activist. This then shows us the different “scales” of perception and introduces lack of clarity and reduces subsequent action and value in the masses- essentially the demarcation of effects and the general derangement of scale.

Evidence of this phenomenon can be found in modern societies’ projection of material condition as eternally available (i.e fossil fuels and oil) and brings forth dependency on these resources (i.e petrodependency). Though there have been attempts to bring awareness to issues of petrodependency, the method of conveying urgency and call to action, has been largely unsuccessful due to unrealistic derangements of scale. Countless times have we been told to “walk, rather than use public and private transport” , “ turn off all lights when not in use” and so forth but the question of the extent of its effects remains in the back of our minds. After all, do we not disregard these calls to action with a snort of mockery and continue about our day? However, have we once bothered to contemplate the matter of unity in regards to encouraging change and reform?

It is with this final question of reflection we ask to our audience, that we hope we have given sufficient indication of the importance behind Qatar’s petromodernity goals. Rather than choosing to stay content within a culture of petrodependency wherein there was indeed, temporary closure and false assurance of the limitless quantities of fossil fuels and oil resources to sustain our current modes of living, Qatar actively chose to shed its perception of petrodependency on a national and individual scale and confront the scale of human actions in the spatial world and it’s plethora of intellectual, societal and ethical containments.

Work Used:

Timothy Clarke, “Derangements of Scale” , 2020

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Non-Invasive Archaeology Uncategorized

Al-Zubarah as an Aesthetic Experience

Looking at different conceptualizations of wilderness in environmental aesthetics illustrated how human understandings of the aesthetic engagement construct our judgments and valuing of environments (Cronon, 1996). The dynamic manifestations of wilderness centered around concepts like beauty and sublime do not merely present nature as a classical object of aesthetic experience but they emphasize human perceptual qualities as the determinant of aesthetic experiences. In other words, aesthetic experience is largely human-constructed which shapes the whole idea behind Nature’s aesthetic value. However, the sole focus on the ‘natural’ landscape in aesthetic conceptualizations discriminates between a component of the landscape created by natural processes and one created by human cultural actions. This perhaps marks Arntzen and Brady’s goal, in Humans in the Land, to shift environmental aesthetics and ethics away from ‘wilderness’ or ‘natural landscapes’ towards humanized landscapes (Arntzen & Brady, 2008). In line with this, I will frame Al-Zubarah as a cultural aesthetic subject, an alternative view to nature aesthetics in an attempt to value its landscape.

Al-Zubarah as a cultural landscape produces an aesthetic experience. Environmental aesthetics is largely concerned with the environmental character of natural objects as opposed to the object-centered approach typical of the art of artifacts, where the aesthetic object is conceived as relatively static and bounded. However, lifeless attributes of cultural landscapes stem from human perceptions, thoughts, imaginings, knowledge, and emotion. Simply, we conditioned our minds to think of them as ‘too lifeless’ to be considered an aesthetic experience while we scrutinize naturalness as in value aesthetics. The way nature is admired for its mesmerizing sceneries, converging colors, and addictive touch is all cognitively produced by humans. In the same way we aptly describe nature in terms of its aesthetic appeal could be exactly applied in the presence of culture-created landscapes. We can aesthetically conceive of the al-Zubarah beyond its practical concerns or economic value. Implementing the aesthetic narrative in al-Zubarah archaeological processes allows us to think of destructive archaeology as disruptive to our aesthetic conceptualizations of the site. In this sense, invasive archaeology is not merely physical, as in destroying pure forms of al-zubarah artifacts, but it significantly disturbs our aesthetic appreciation for its pure artifact. Alternatively, the landscape preservation efforts are the preservation of human-created aesthetic meanings.

Although the aesthetic appreciation of the environment is often deemed insignificant in conservation and preservation due to its subjective nature, one must understand its importance in igniting environmental movements. Nature as an aesthetic experience, however, is yet centralized in theoretical and practical discussions of environmentalism. Nonetheless, with the slow shift from environmental aesthetics’ sole focus on the natural environment to human-produced environments, this discipline became inclusive of all non-human entities, including non-living beings. The aesthetics of objects and environments (artificial and natural) are not only appreciated because of how they are produced in human cognitive formulations but they open for non-cognitive components such as scientific knowledge and cultural traditions. In this sense, we do not only conceive of the al-zubarah in our imaginary realm but also how its cultural significance comes into play. Combining cognitive and non-cognitive elements of environmental aesthetics minimizes/eliminates the discipline’s superficiality that critics have pointed out. This presents non-invasive archaeological preservation/excavation as not just necessarily for our aesthetic narratives that I previously talked about, but how it is important due to its cultural symbolism for Qatar.

References:

Arntzen, S., & Brady, E. (2008). Humans in the land: The Ethics and aesthetics of the Cultural Landscape. Google Books. Unipub. Retrieved October 16, 2022, from https://books.google.com.qa/books?id=quwJAQAAMAAJ&printsec=front_cover&redir_esc=y.

Carlson, A. (2019, April 9). Environmental aesthetics. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved October 16, 2022, from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/environmental-aesthetics/

Cronon, W. (1996). The Trouble with Wilderness: Or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature.   Environmental History, 1(1), 7–28. https://doi.org/10.2307/3985059

Gardiner, S. M., & Thompson, A. (2019). Aesthetic value, Nature and Environment . In The Oxford Handbook of Environmental Ethics (pp. 186–196). essay, Oxford University Press.

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Eco-Art and Desert Preservation Uncategorized

Eco-Art and Desert Preservation

Abstract

Desert X Al Ula

Deserts are a highly valuable and bio-diverse and unique species filled surface on earth. I believe that the deserts and their precious species living in said places should also be preserved. I aim to look at Eco-Art as well, as I believe that they are a much under appreciated method of art in terms of providing a clear message on how we can preserve our planet and our environment. Eco-Art’s main purpose is to raise awareness about the dangers and negative effects that we as humans do to the environment. It aims to promote taking care of our environment and creating change. Encouraging us humans to conserve what’s valuable and precious. In this blog I aim to look at how Eco-Art helps us understand the negative effects of our actions on deserts, but also why we should conserve the desert and its species. I am looking at art exhibitions like the Desert X AlUla, one of the many art exhibitions that provide a place for artists that are world renowned to display their art work and share their message to educate the world and their viewers. Desert X is a non-profit, charity organization created in California that occurs in different regions of the world every other year. Their purpose of producing annual international contemporary art exhibitions that energize desert areas through site-specific installations by acclaimed international artists. This year, 2022. Desert X has installed their expedition in the Al Ula desert of Saudi Arabia. With a total of 9 world renowned artists that are displaying theirs artworks for viewing this year. The main idea and meaningful story behind Desert X is to display meaningful artworks that respond to the conditions of the deserts locations, the environment and indigenous communities. And they aim to promote cultural exchange and education programs that foster dialogue and understanding within cultures and communities about shared artistic, historical and societal issues. A main factor they also have is that since the exhibition is specifically all profits to charity shows that they truly aim to share positive messages and genuinely want to gain the betterment for our planet and the species living within it. I aim to look at each distinctive art work and understand What message does this artwork try to give? What story goes behind each work? What’s the artist’s intention in creating such artwork? What do these artwork include and in what specific way does it look to give that message they aim to hand to the viewers? How do they show the value of deserts? Or their species living within the desserts? . Above all these crucial questions, above all I want to aim to answer my main question for this project which is, Do Eco-Art truly make a difference in terms of inspiring viewers to care for the environment, and do they have an impact on the global environmental crises that the globe is currently facing?

Blog Post 2

The Eco-Art and amazingly created sculptures and installations displayed this year in the Great Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Desert X AlUla aims to produce an annual exhibition internationally and specifically in desert regions with international artists displaying their unique art installations and for a good cause. The Desert X Al Ula is a non-profit and a charity organization specifically created to overall send a positive message. Some of the artworks also aim to provide a message to ensure people take care of the environment. They aim to ensure people understand the importance of preserving this planet and the unique large variety of species that come along with this glorious place we can all call home. Eco-Art is a unique way in showing the importance of planet earth, some people believe that it does not create that much impact and others believe that Eco-Art is actually a unique way to share the message of protecting earth. So I took a look at the art installations that are displayed at these magnificent exhibitions. All are unique in their own ways and all carry important messages to them. I specifically wanted to look at the artwork by Abdullah Al Othman in the Expedition of 2022. The artwork titled Geography of Hope. This piece from the whole expedition stood out to me the most, that is because its heavenly look and simplicity is what makes it stand out between the rest to me. To describe its physical description it is a water source, a puddle of some sort in the center of Saudi Arabia’s most distinctive mountains that in a way hug this installation surrounding it. I really love that the artist has specifically chosen that place for his installation, because of the simplicity his work is providing. I saw it as in a way enhancing the nature surrounding it. The “Water-like” substance in the intermontane plateau is a reflective liquid, which is very intriguing to me. To me it looks like a melted mirror, which I interpreted as a mirror that reflected the beauty of nature, the desert. Now as a simplistic work as the “Geography of Hope” we can’t really easily pinpoint what its intention is or the message behind it is. It is in a way an artwork like most artworks are up to the interpretation of the viewer. In my opinion Eco-Art like these are really efficient because if the viewer understands that this work is an Eco-Work, if they don’t read a description of some sort they start thinking of ways how this artwork will promote environmental preservation. For instance when I look at this artwork I do see it as an Eco-Art. I believe that it shows us the importance of the “gift” the earth provides us with. The importance of “Water” to humans, our need for it. Makes us appreciate nature and what it provides us. Now what I view or understand may not be like what you may think but I believe that’s the beauty of artwork like these. 

Blog Post 3

I would like to look at another piece that is displayed in the exhibition that is just as great as the “Geography of Hope” by the Artist Abdulla Al Othman. The artist’s work that I mentioned as great, is also controversial in my opinion. And that artist is Zeinab Al Hashemi. Her artwork is titled “Camouflage 2.0”. Her work at first glance does not scream Eco-Art. Taking in consideration that the Desert X Al Ula is located in a desert, and there is no sight of a “Museum label” or even any comments from the artists, and this goes to all the artworks displayed. From the images I have reviewed there were some people that look like they were a sort of guide, information Curtors. Even then this will lack the actual feeling or the aim of the artwork from the artist themselves. However, sometimes in this case it might not be necessary. Known as a visual artworks. This can be helpful because it makes the viewer reflect on the piece in their own unique way, the viewer can self create a message behind the artwork. In terms of Eco-Art, Desert X Al Ula is known to have artworks that generally are displayed for a good cause. Not necessarily about the preservation of the environment only. However, as a viewer if I know that the majority of the pieces are for a good cause I will form an idea or a message behind each piece with the knowledge that whatever it might signifies, it is for a good cause. Going back to Camouflage 2.0, this unique piece of artwork in my opinion does have some environment appreciation message and  I would see it fitting into the Eco-Art category because in the artist’s description she says “The camel hair on the rock-like sculptures symbolizes the magnificent creature that is synonymous with the desert. It is also a reminder that the site is now a public art park that celebrates the desert; it welcomes everyone to discover this place as a masterpiece of nature”. And from her description it is clear that she aimed to show the value of the camels, and in that sense values of the species in the deserts which to me is a way of preserving the environment. Now if a viewer comes across her description of that artwork they most likely will also have similar thoughts as I mentioned. However, Like I previously stated at a first glance at this artwork in no way can I tell what she believes is the aim of this artwork or her purpose of displaying this sculpture like display. I want to go back to the visual art concept, visually looking at this artwork even before reading her description, I tried to analyze the piece based on what I see. Now I can definitely tell that this artwork has something to do with deserts generally. That is because of the neutral colors of many shades of brown that have been used. If you zoom in closer the ‘camel skin’ that is embracing these abstract stone like statues immediately signifies Camels. What about the Camels? Why Camels?, we as viewers with no context wont know. We can assume, and guess what it signifies or what about camels? But we won’t know for sure. Now going back to my comment on why this is not an ideal “Eco-Art”, this is because we can’t expect this to create a huge difference and impact the viewers if the description is not displayed. We can’t all be sure everyone can connect the dots and form a conclusion that this artwork is symbolizing the magnificent creatures that are exclusively found in the deserts. So the geometric shaped stones, as beautiful as they can be, also provided me with another thought. Which is that if the use of the camel skin (unsure if real or faux) would advocate for animal cruelty or slaughter acts. May not say that but, the use of the skin on the artwork can infer it. So generally when viewing this piece I didn’t have a straight answer if this is a “save the animal” artwork or “Use their skin for human benefit”. This can be an up to interpretation type work like I did mention previously, however, this gives me the imagery that that piece is not an Eco-Art work, because I think the only way an ‘Eco-Art’ display can be influential is if it screams to its viewer. “Create change”, “Make a difference” “Protect this planet and the species that come along with it”. 

Blog post 4

The underwater museum by Jason Taylor was the main secondary source I wanted to look at to help further improve my research. Taylors work is whats known to be qualified as Eco-Art. The human-like sculptures were submerged in the Oceans around the world displayed at the bottom of the sea. Taylor claims that his sculptures can be utilized in so many different ways, main purpose was that it could be used as a surface for coral reefs to grow on to and used as a place to be protected by humans and their destruction towards the sea by littering and over visiting the sea. So he suggests that his work is more helpful toward the environment. However I have some views that suggest otherwise. The sculptures look very attractive to view and most likely will attract people want to visit the oceans. Now that will cause more visitors to visit the ocean, which will result to more littering and more humans taking over the oceans and disrupting the species and ocean itself, which made me believe that this will actually cause more harm than good to the ocean. So that led me to believe that the underwater museum is not the best example of an Eco-Art. Now in the article by Cronon “the trouble with wilderness” he has mentioned that Americans believed “wilderness stands as the last remaining place where civilization, that too human disease, has not fully infected the earth”. This reminds me of the Underwater museum, the ocean being the wilderness that is the last remaining place which has not been touched by civilization. The museum has in a way represented civilization and taking over the wilderness of the ocean. Similarly to what Conan said about “ Killing parts of nature to make it our home” the artworks of AlUla take over the deserts and Taylors sculptures take over the ocean. Conan essentially believes that there won’t be a place for nature and its species that has not been disrupted by civilization. Another though I had was that the look of the sculptures were very interesting. Why are they sculptures of humans? Isn’t it ironic that the species responsible for the bad affects on the environment are the ones being replicated to “save the planet”. This makes me believe that humans beings are in a way suspecting that they own the ocean and what belongs to it. That human beings are on their way to make sure that they place their human touches on each and every surface reachable on this earth. To the point we’re actually placing sculptures of us in the sea. Yes these sculptures can save the coral reefs however, what about the other species within the ocean. HE claimed that his work would “Create value for the ocean” however, is that what the ocean really needs? more reasons to be visited? Isn’t placing these sculptures “littering” the oceans and invading its natural elements. Maybe there can be alternative ways to make people “value” the ocean. I overall came to the conclusion that this is not a great display of Eco-Art, solely because I believe their can be better approached to encourage people to take care of the environment.

Blog post 5

From my second secondary source I wanted to look at the artwork by Sara Al Obaidly “What remains” which was a very great example of Eco-Art in my opinion. The art-woks are a series of photographs that show a great amount of our Earth being distrusted completely. Her work were displayed in an art exhibition here in Qatar, so it is not disturbing any place or species. Her photographs were true and unmodified. In a way they were not “sugarcoating” the truth of how bad the planet is struggling by the actions of humans. Her work has a quite minimal look to her work, they have taken up the least space in comparison to the rest of the works however they hold the deepest and heaviest meanings. This showed me that Eco-Art can be as simple and brief but have the most impact. Sure it may not be a very affective method. As I mentioned previously there can be many other way more affective ways. Although, this does not take away the chances of it being affective in anyway. Art generally does not target everyone and does not please many. So we really cant expect one category of art to reach out to many. The works by Sara makes me believe she purely wants to shine the light on the blindside of the horror of climate change and the possible end of our planet and the species that come with it. Saras work made me aware that Eco-Art can be an affective approach however, can there be any other approaches more affective. Overall I do believe Eco-Art may not be the best way to approach rapidly increasing environmental issues of today, it can be targeted to certain people however, for todays affect on climate change we need to focus more on approaches that cater all people old and young.

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After Petroculture? Uncategorized

After Petroculture: Consequences of Petrodependency

By Iman Saif and Hafsa Najdan

For our previous blog post, we focused on the essay “After Oil”. We broke down this source and then applied it to our case study. We focused on how the use of analyzing this source could further contextualize the imminent need for Qatar’s clean and distant separation from its state of petromodernity and petro-dependence. In today’s blogspot, similar to our previous post, we will be analyzing the essay “FOSSIL FREEDOMS: The Politics of Emancipation and the End of Oil” by Hannes Bergthaller. This article, in contrast, provides insight on another issue regarding the actual consequences of petro-dependency. For a state actor on an international and domestic level, reaching the status of being petromodern is a double-edged sword. Weath, status, and development is gained at the cost of the obvious ecological and environmental determinants, but also, in particular, leaving behind a world lived without petroculture infrastructure permeating everything.

Bergthaller cleverly revises an analogy by President George W. Bush between the macro level of premodernity crazes and the micro relatability of addiction. This analogy is somewhat flawed, she argues, because addiction entails that the affected body can, through whatever measures, emerge from the confines of the illness relatively unscathed. It is a simple “character flaw”, rather than a centuries old ailment with deep roots. The essence of this analogy, however, holds enough weight to truly resonate with the idea that petromodernity reaps the same consequences as substance abuse (Bergthaller 425). It also highlights the grim reality of the fact that petromodernity removes a certain level of liberty from the alleged victim. A loss of autonomy with states chasing the oil-fueled high, private corporations “as generating large quantities of CO2”, and people with their lifestyles, no longer able to reach certain levels of self-sufficiency. Individuality has become an impossible goal (Bergthaller 425). The entire chase to reach petromodernity is meant to lead to a path of liberation. Liberation from poverty and low status, liberation from old tradition to urbanization. Yet this facet of liberty is only a fallacy. “What is freedom”, Bergthaller writes, “if it depends on something that is not free?” Self-reliance demotes only to reliance, if “there is no self” (Bergthaller 426). Essentially, petromodernity puts state actors on a sparkly, looming pedestal with a rapidly upward crumbling base. 

It would be elementary to completely trivialize advancements of energy transitions and would reflect a lack of true knowledge on the severity of the issue. Qatar, being an actor with relatively sizable oil reserves, is a country at peak petromodernity. While they are making efforts to transition to natural gasses, it may stand to be fruitless as, while abundant in their reserves,  they are transitioning towards another non-renewable resource to depend their countries’ vitality on. If we were to, in short, take the oil away right now, if we were to remove social, economic, and cultural infrastructures in places that thrive on petromodernity, where would Qatar be? I ask this question in hopes of putting Qatar in all of its black gold, technologically-utopian glory, in perspective, rather than over-simplifying the depth of the problem at hand. The clock is ticking for Qatar, like many petro modern countries, and if they choose not to separate themselves from this status through means such as ones suggested in our previous blog post, the problem, with thorough grimness “if only given enough time, will solve itself” (Bergthaller 429).

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After Petroculture? Uncategorized

After Petroculture: Case Study Application “After Oil”

By Iman Saif and Hafsa Najdan

In our last blog post, we briefly discussed Qatar’s plans for increased sustainability, among which the unique and entirely fundamental aspect of eliminating petromodernity is central to Qatar’s visions for development. This goal of eliminating petromodernity is essentially the prohibition and eventual independence from the reliance on cheap, harmful energy sources, and we have briefly outlined some methods on implementing this vision. In this blog post, to further increase our readers’ understanding of the culture of petromodernity and the subsequent need for eliminating this widespread culture, we will be applying and analyzing the secondary source, “After Oil” (Badia et al.) to our case study of petromodernity in Qatar.

In “After Oil”, there is an emphasis put upon the importance of energy transition through social transition- a core concept that the very possibility of reform and elimination of petromodernity culture throughout the globe is reliant upon. It is through social commitments developed over time that the genesis of petromodernity is introduced- a culture that actively influences and dictates the human quality of life under an economy of fossil fuels. Indeed, it would be for our own benefit that we do not stop at the mere acknowledgement of the overbearing role of fossil fuels in our lives but rather, we move past that initial acknowledgement and actively work towards replacing and eliminating this lifestyle built upon the minefields of fossil fuels in order to actively trigger transition and reform.

That is not to say that we have to outright give up our basic human needs and collective desires, but rather, we come together as a community to build a social framework that takes them into account and simultaneously, takes our surrounding environments into account as well. To achieve this objective, is once again, to have the awareness of how oil and fossil fuels shape our livelihood- our desires, identities, practices, consumption patterns, etc. It is this self-awareness that often leads to the common “impasse”, as stated in the text. A situation that is created from the seemingly lack of options and practices that are blocked by forces beyond our human conception and “invites paralysis and reinforces the status quo” (Badia et al., p.16). This then brings us to the second factor outlined in “After Oil”, incumbent in the objective of eliminating petromodernity- Intentional Transition.


Intentional transition consists of the reframing of the petromodernity issue in a humanistic, environmentalist manner that actively takes into account the general public’s opinions and thoughts. It is built on the foundations of intention, agency and the acknowledgement of our values and human desires. Intentional transition also consists of attestations to change in practices and relations of and with oil, fossil fuels and energy sources, in which encouragement and camaraderie is a central element that sustains the possibility of transition and elimination of petromodernity.

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Local Agriculture in Qatar Uncategorized

Preference of Food Produce in Qatar

When attending different grocery markets in Qatar, there are some markets like Monoprix and Mega mart who rely most on imported produce rather than products that are locally produced. But when I took it upon myself to see markets like Al Meera, more local produce like vegetables were produced in Qatar. Although there is an environmental agricultural problem in Qatar previously that suggested Qatar’s geographical location is not fit for produce, Qatar’s produce is thriving in the markets. To find answers on whether or not the people of Qatar prefer locally produced or imported goods I asked different people at Monoprix and Al Meera. It was evident that people that go to Monoprix purposely go to get French products, not necessarily vegetables or fruits. A handful of people said the produce from abroad was “more flavorful”, whereas others believed that local produce are “fresh and are likely to be stored longer”. The questions were distributed amongst Qataris and non Qataris just to avoid a sense of bias within this research. When examining the produce in Almeera, more products were Qatari products, like tomatoes and cucumbers. Monoprix products were mainly from Jordan and Morocco and Belgium. A particular interview with a Qatari woman in Almeera suggested that she would prefer foods from Qatar for a number of reasons, the first being that she justifies Qatar produce as more “trusting”, she is concerned about the genetically modified foods that come from abroad and what that can do to ones body. She also claimed that Qatar food is more fresh just like everyone else interviewed.However, within this study I asked the people if they think Qatar’s produce is a problem and most said that it never occurred to them to be in a situation where there would be a shortage of produce, but due to our geographical location it could be understood differently by outsiders. 

This study reminds me of environmentalist Guhas text “Radical American Environmentalism and WIlderness Preservation: A Third World Critique”. His text argues the critique the west has on third world countries and their ecology, in simpler terms the involvement of politics has a major contribution within the environment. His text argues that anthropocentrism and biocentrism differentiation is what showcases the issues of environmental degradation in the third world.Given that Qatar is considered a part of the Southern Hemispheres “Global South” this would immediately categorize them as part of the Third world countries. With Qatar being a very hot country, the issue of production is also something that the west would fit us into being a country that suffers from lack of produce, hence requiring the west to step in and help. Although the west could see our issue of produce as something that limits us, Qatar still finds different solutions that contribute to food production being effective. Solutions such as getting soil from abroad, produce from abroad and fertilizations too. 

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