A proposal

for
Creating a Video History Display at Ml Lawal Exhibit

Introduction
Although some historians use the old African proverb Every old man
who dies is a library that burns to highlight the importance of
documenting oral history, I would argue that what is as important as
getting oral history documented, is getting oral history reached
beyond the academic and research environment into a wider range
of community. In his article using Oral History In Museum , Bogart
draws the attention to the importance of using oral history as a tool
to reach out to the community, he notes, Oral history bridges the
gap between the past and the present by using personal memories
to interpret artifacts or experiences. (1995, 2).

Connecting young generations with their oral history heritage will

bind them together with their social values, beliefs, and traditions.
It will also allow them to better understand older generations and
the history of their own origins. One of the most effective ways to
sustain oral history and to involve next generations is using digital
media (audiovisual projects). According to High, The digital
revolution is changing oral history practice at the center.(2010,
101). While the use of digital media in curating oral history has
increased around the world in the last few years, it still needs to be
used more often and more effectively to enhance oral history
curation within Qatar.
My research project focuses on creating a video history display at
Qatar Museums annual exhibit Ml Lawal [ - - From the Past].
As far as I know, This project will be the first history video display in
this exhibit since it is inception in 2012. I will draw on the audio
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recording of my interview with an elderly Qatari woman who works

as an alternative medicine practitioner, and add some footages of
her. The womans dialect will be subtitled in both, Modern Standard
Arabic (MSA) and English, This video history display will be
combined with objects display, to exhibit the narrator tools, herbal
remedies, etc. In this proposal, I discuss how my project will
contribute effectively to enhancing Mal Lawal exhibits experience.
As part of this. I will also discuss the translation issues of getting
the footages subtitled. I will explain the translation approaches I will
adopt for writing and translating the objects labels. This proposal
brings together oral history, curation and translation studies along
with the digital media in an attempt to get the Qatari oral history
reached out into a wider range of local and international societies.

The visual appearance of people talking about their past, does not
only encourage the oral memories and enhance the oral history, it
supports the community values and enriches the museum
experience as well. Humphries (2003) agrees with this notion. In his
article, Video History in Museums, Humphries recalls the
experience that he countered in 2002 when he was asked to do
something before the opening of the Empire and Commonwealth
Museum in Bristol. Working in museum context, Humphries
decided to draw on some characters in the Museum's large audio oral
history collection and film them. He notes about this experience, The
display is generally regarded to be a real success by the museum, by
its visitors and by the local and national press. (Humphries 2003,
77.) The previous case supports my proposal and shows the
importance of the visual dimension in curating oral history.This
project will support the cultural goals of Qatar National Vision 2030. It
also will conform to one of Qatar Museums priority strategies to
create a platform for the Voice of Qatar within international debates
on heritage culture and to highlights Qatars people. Adding the visual
dimension to [Ml Lawal] exhibit which first took place in 2012,
inviting everyone in Qatar to share the objects that have made an
impression and respond with them throughout their lives, will be a
significant contribution to the its success, it will engage the
community including young generations to Qatar history. It will also
encourage visitors. My video history display will be part of Mal lawals
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section TELLING STORIES which allows visitors to contribute to the

documentation of Qatars heritage and identity, beyond donating
objects for the exhibition. Since Qatari oral history places people at
the center of preserving the greatest part of Qatars heritage, My
video recording will focus on portraying the narrators personality
through highlighting her nonverbal gestures, her special way of
talking, and her old dialect .As Charlton (1984, 232) points out, in
studying an oral memoir, the scholar often wishes he had video
documents to help in evaluating an interviewee's psychological
makeup. If a one dimensional, still photograph can reveal aspects of
personality, the potential of video in this regard is far greater.
I agree with Mortada that subtitling using more than language will
extend the message of empowerment to the other local and
foster international network. (Mortada 2015, 129) Since the audio
recording was conducted in an earlier stage without taking the
filming and of course the subtitling into account, I need to make
sure that the shots and the audio are synchronized. Furthermore, I
expect that the subtitling should be considered during filming and
make sure that the subtitles does not distract the audience away
from other elements such as her tools or substances or even her
posture. To overcome the issue of the bilingual subtitling, there will
be two screens at the video history display, each screen has the
option of changing the subtitles language before playing the video.
The video display will also be provided with headphones to listen to
the narrator and the music effects during reading the subtitles.
Consequently, the video display could accommodate two visitors
speaking the same language (either Arabic or English) or speaking
the two languages at the same time. the visitors will have the
options to play, pause, forward or backward the film.
Translation is an essential and interesting part of my project.
However, I expect some linguistic and socio linguistic issues during
translating and subtitling the Qatari dialect into MSA and English.
According to Diaz and Remael, Dialects are tricky, and subtitles
should never be drawing too much attention to their invaluable but
preferably invisible work.(2007, 192). The linguistic issues that I
expect to experience during the Subtitling process include finding
the dynamic equivalent for some Qatari words. For instance, the
word [yum] which is used in the old Qatari dialect and means
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literally ( my mother), this literal translation cannot be used

whether in Arabic or English, as it will make no sense in the context.
Therefore, I will opt for using its equivalent in the MSA and
translate it into ( my daughter) [ibnt]. The English dynamic
equivalent should be used as well, so it will be translate it into (My
dear). Other linguistic issues could include omission on word level.
For some unclear substances, herbs names, I will explain them
using transliteration and footnotes in the object labels. Since the
narrator is an illiterate woman, some socio linguistic issues could be
observed specially during the intralingual subtitling. i will opt for
simpler choices of Arabic words. For instance, the word [ytar]
which means ( to sweat) will be intralingually translated into
[ytarq] instead of sophisticating Arabic word [yufriz lrq].
The objects display in the museum is integrated part of oral history
projects. it helps visitors to evaluate and check the accuracy of the
narrative. It also helps visitors to figure out things they cannot
capture during reading the subtitles. In fact, A complete oral
history project should conform to the most important element in
the museums, the collections. According to Day, Museums are
about objects and collections and all that is done should serve

that end. Oral history serves it by helping to document

collections and providing illustrative contextual information for
their interpretation.(Day 1999, 93). In this project, the object

display will include, her tools, some of used substances sand herbal.
The text on the objects labels will be written in MSA and English.
There will be footnotes to explain unclear dialect words in Arabic
and English labels. The explanation of some unclear herbs and
substances will appear on Arabic and English labels using
transliteration and footnotes. For example, the substance
Asphaltum, [mmn] will appear in the labels as follows:

Asphaltum
[mmn] An organic substance extracted from mountains
and used for the treatment of bones fractions and was
sometimes extracted from ancient Egyptian mummies.
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I will also use the label display to explain some other unclear words
such as the old Qatari names for some diseases. For example, the
word [srsf] which is used in the old Qatari dialect to describe one
of liver disease will appear as follows:
[srsf] It is s a medical condition when the liver is
positioned upside down.

To conclude, using digital media in oral history projects in Qatar is

the best way to act towards long preservation and access . This
project which supports the cultural goals of Qatar National Vision,
will be the state of the art in Mal Lawal exhibit. It will support its
mission and encourage visitors specially the young generations as
well as enhance curation experience . This history video display will
be pave the way to a big project using the cutting- edge
audiovisual technology to contribute effectively to boosting the
national archive of oral history in Qatar.

References

Bogart, Allen. 1995. Using Oral History in Museums. History News 50 (4): 18.

Charlton, Thomas. 1984. Videotaped Oral Histories: Problems and Prospects. The
American Archivist 47 (3): 22836.
doi:10.17723/aarc.47.3.35311v78u5264km4.
Day, Annette. 1999. Listening Galleries: Putting Oral History on Display. Oral
History 27 (1): 9196. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40179598
Daz-Cintas, Jorge, and Aline Remael. 2007. Audiovisual Translation: Subtitling.
Translation Practices Explained 11. Manchester, UK; Kinderhook, NY: St.
Jerome Pub.
High, Steven. 2010. TELLING STORIES: A REFLECTION ON ORAL HISTORY
AND NEW MEDIA. Oral History 38 (1): 10112.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/40650320
Humphries, Steve. 2003. Unseen Stories: Video History in Museums. Oral History
31 (2): 7584 http://www.jstor.org/stable/40179759.
Mortada, Leil. 2015. "Translation and Solidarity in Words of Woman
from the Egyptian Revolution" In Translating Dissent: In Voices
From and With the Egyptian Revolution. edited by Mona Baker,
125-132. New York: Routledge.