The Clan Issue – #17

We are all born belonging. Firstly to a family, then to friends, schools, social clubs, university, and finally a work place. Whether we keep a small number of close friends or a hugely extended network, we weave between multiple clans on a daily basis.

In our cover story, we take a look at the hybrid clan Ahmad, Ascia and Adam and talk about what clan means to them. While some will reflect upon their heritage, allowing them to identify with a group via their ancestral legacy, others will lean towards new clans, such as a recently formed group explored by +Aziz in Becoming Mipster (page 34 ). There he discovers how music was a strong factor in bringing the youth together, yet unity through music and dance is not recent, as our own historian Walah Al-Sabah studies through her article on the war dance Dahha (page 30).

In this issue we tried to capture the essence of what it means to be a part of the Khaleej, whether it’s through expats whose love for the region shines through their community driven work like Co-Founder of Doha News Omar Chatriwala (page 84).

We’ve spoken to outstanding locals such as Bahraini-based Abdulla Buhendi, clothing designer of Free Minds (page 54), and Sarah Nabil (page 80), the region’s first female composer of R&B and Hip-hop tracks. Our resident satirical writer Abdulaziz Al-Smairi has captured the essence of the Gulf ’s famous hospitality in Dewaniya Diaries (page 88) on occasions when they throw open their doors to new guests and businessman Ahmed Al-Thukair explains the tricky shift of a parent going from Daddy to Chairman (page 90).