Culture deserves stories, not headlines.
Culture is often reduced to simplified narratives. A story that should be told with soul and care is boiled down to a few lines, or becomes nothing but a headline in big, bold font. We’ve almost forgotten what “culture” really means, because the spotlight tends to land on a singular puzzle piece, when there are hundreds to consider, especially within contemporary creative landscapes. This applies tenfold to creative landscapes that hail from non-Western regions that fall victim to being reduced to a Western view, whether it be through stereotypes or reductionist views of their people, stories and cultures.
To document meaningful change and growth is to pull back the curtain formed by reductionist reporting and storytelling and share the intricacies of such change being made and the people and communities that create it. Creative movements begin quietly and humbly before they become visible globally — with an idea written on a napkin, a lightbulb moment discussed with friends, a strike of inspiration from a quote or a life event, a concept board no one really understands except the person who made it.
These soft beginnings are what we want to spotlight.
Qissah Culture Lab is an independent editorial, research and creative studio based in Doha, Qatar. With the hope of documenting contemporary Gulf and SWANA culture and creativity, QCL focuses on the people and roots behind shaping creative movements, delving beneath the surface of what is easily seen.
QCL exists to spotlight the rapid and unnoticed creative development while working to combat the lack of nuanced storytelling around the region. Alongside this, it aims to work to accommodate the increasing global interest in the creative ecosystems within the Gulf and wider SWANA region.
The Qissah Dispatch will function as an update based newsletter, sharing parts of the studio ranging from the projects currently in development to progressively building the cultural archive that hopes to become a reference point for developments of cultural movements within the region.
Each month, the Qissah Dispatch will provide the behind-the-scenes insights on developing documentary stories, interviews done with creatives, cultural research and observations, and updates on upcoming projects — essentially, the creative processes and elements that go into creating everything QCL puts out.
Thank you for joining Qissah while the stories are still being written — while they are still “now” and not yet “once upon a time”. This is the first step in building and nourishing an archive of the people, ideas and creative movements shaping this region. QCL believes the stories being created today will shape how the region is understood tomorrow, and we look forward to documenting that transformation as it unfolds.
Until the next chapter,
Qissah Culture Lab
