Event Information 2023

Special Exhibition

The 1st Special Exhibition in 2023 ※

Arabian Fashion and Hospitality: Makeup, Incense and Perfumes, Dates and Coffee Culture Exhibition poster

Title	Arabian Fashion and Hospitality: Makeup, Incense and Perfumes, Dates and Coffee Culture
Period	March 23, 2023 ( Thu. ) - May 24, 2023 ( Wed. )
Venue	Special exhibition room on the 2nd floor and Hall on the 1st floor
Organizer	Mineral Industry Museum, Akita University
Co-organizers	Motoko Katakura Foundation for Desert Culture and Muslim World League Japan Office
Special Collaborators	Heritage Commission, Ministry of Culture, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Wadi Fatima Social Development Center and King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies
Support Projects	“Restudying ethnographic long-term field data and co-creating a digital cultural heritage with local Muslim communities in the Middle East and North Africa” (Principal Investigator: NAWATA Hiroshi, GRANT-IN-AID FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH (A), FY2022-2023, JSPS 21H04372) and FY2022 Akita University Education and Research Project (Principal Investigator: NAWATA Hiroshi)

※Click here for related events

Countries in the Middle East and Arabian Peninsula account for nearly 90% of Japan's crude oil imports. However, there are few opportunities to learn about the cultures of these countries. Therefore, in FY2022-2023, we planned two consecutive special exhibitions focusing on the various resources of modern Arabian countries that have rarely been introduced in Japan. The exhibitions focus on the use of materials such as metals and non-metals, inorganic and organic materials, their social value, historical distribution, and culture such as fashion and hospitality.
　The second special exhibition, "Arabian Fashion and Hospitality: Makeup, Incense and Perfumes, Dates and Coffee Culture," introduces the fashion of women living in the Arabian Peninsula, from the materials and their places of origin, such as makeup implements, incense burners, and the fragrances used in them, to the history of exchange. The exhibition also explains the culture of dates, the fruit of the date palm, and Arabic coffee, both of which are indispensable to Arabian hospitality.
　We would like to express our sincere appreciation to the organizations that allowed us to conduct field research in Saudi Arabia, as well as to all parties involved for their cooperation and special assistance in organizing this event.

Professor,
Graduate School of International Resource Sciences, Akita University
NAWATA Hiroshi, Ph.D.

Picture 1
Unmarried women used to wear a cloth called şumāda over their heads when they went out (Photographed by Motoko Katakura in 1971-1974, Saudi Arabia: KM_5578, Motoko Katakura Middle East Collection at National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka)

Red and floral patterns were popular and continued to be worn until a few decades ago. Customarily, the cloth is folded and placed on the head, but this photo was taken with the cloth stretched out to show its length.

Picture 2
The dalla, a coffee pot (Motoko Katakura Foundation for Desert Culture collection)

In the Arabian Peninsula, coffee pots are usually made of brass or copper with a lid called a dalla. The first step is to make a fire, roast the green beans, crush the beans, and boil the water. When the coffee beans are boiled, it is common to add some of the spices in powdered form as well, depending on the drinker’s taste. In the case of the Arabian Peninsula, these include saffron, cloves, cardamom, and dried ginger. It is not common to add sugar, nor to pour a generous amount into the cup. Dates, the fruit of the date palm, are mostly eaten as an accompaniment to coffee.

Picture 3
Portable coffee cup holder and pottery coffee cup (Motoko Katakura Foundation for Desert Culture collection)

The coffee beans are roasted to a shallow green or yellowish wheat color in the Arabian Peninsula. A coffee-making kit is always brought along when traveling long distances by camel. Rather than drinking water as it is in hot arid regions, it is thought to be more efficient to drink water by directly boiling roasted and ground coffee beans mixed with spices. The raw materials of coffee beans and spices can be stored easily, the tools are very light, and the amount of water to be carried is small.

Picture 4
Silver necklaces with beads of amber (private collection)

Designs that combine large amber (or treated or imitation amber) beads and silver spherical beads with a diameter of several centimeters or more are known as "Bedouin jewelry" and sometimes include a silver pendant with an amulet in the center of the necklace. Amber is a resin that has been deposited in geological strata and fossilized over millions or tens of millions of years. Beads made of amber are also highly valued as a material for prayer beads used in Muslim prayers. The reason for this is thought to be the wonderful fragrance it gives off when rubbed.

Picture 5
Rose water brass jar (private collection)

In Saudi Arabia, as a form of hospitality when welcoming a guest, this brass jar is first used to sprinkle rose water on the guest's body. By turning the neck around the base of the neck, the neck is released and the liquid can be filled into the jar. The tip of the jar has a small hole in it, and when the jar is used, the appropriate amount of liquid comes out by shaking the jar.

Reference
Nawata, H. ed. (2019) Exploring 50 Years of Livelihood and Landscape Change in Wadi Fatima, Saudi Arabia: Ethnographic Collections of Motoko Katakura, a Japanese Female Cultural Anthropologist. Tokyo: Kawade-syobo, 181P.

Nawata, H. (2020) “Arabian Costumes in Silver and Gold,” Mineral Industry Museum Newsletter 17: 2-4.

Arabic version

Free admission Days

Education and Culture Week (Culture Day)

Date	November 3, 2023 ( Fri. )

International Museum Day

Date	May 18, 2023 ( Thu. )
Remarks	It was proposed by the International Council of Museums ( ICOM ) in 1977 to appeal to citizens about the role of museums in society.

Geology Day

"2023 Geology Day" Poster PDF

Date	May 10, 2023 ( Wed. )
Remarks	Memorial Day of the publication of the first regional geological map, "Nihon-Yezo Chishitsuyouryaku no zu" (1:2,000,000) in 1876, which was made by Lyman, an American geologist with his colleagues. The Geology Division, Geographical Bureau was also established by Home Ministry on this day in 1876.

The 63nd Science and Technology Week

Date	April 22, 2023 ( Sat. ) and April 23, 2023 ( Sun. )
Remarks	Science and Technology Week is held annually by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology ( MEXT ) to promote science and technology.