(MENAFN- The Peninsula) By Raynald C Rivera I The Peninsula
There is high demand for authentic Kahraman amber Islamic prayer beads in Qatar as indicated by the huge participation of local traders and significant turnout of visitors at the ongoing first edition of Katara Exhibition for Kahraman at the Katara Cultural Village.
The biggest Kahraman amber exhibition in the region and the first of its kind in Qatar, the three-day expo which concludes today gathers around 80 of the most important companies in the field of amber beads from seven countries, most of which are from Qatar.
'The Islamic prayer beads business is a strong industry in Qatar; as you can see here most of the exhibitors are Qataris including myself. There's a good demand for it not only in Qatar but the entire GCC, Hamad Saleh Al Sulaiti, founder and CEO of Karham Trading and one of the exhibitors, told The Peninsula at the exhibition.
Al Sulaiti, who began as an ardent collector of Islamic amber prayer beads for 20 years before venturing into the business, believes the high demand in the local market can be explained by the fact that 'Qataris are famous collectors of Islamic prayer beads, specially antique ones.
'Amber is a gemstone mostly coming from the region around the Baltic Sea. It has a cultural significance in the GCC region specially when it comes to Islamic prayer beads since ancient times, he explained.
While raw materials are bought from other countries, the prayer beads offered by Al Sulaiti are handcrafted by artisans from Turkey, Egypt and Kuwait.
'They are beautiful works of art with the artisan's signature and everybody deserves an art piece that they can treasure forever with good price range, he said, adding the prices of the Islamic prayer beads he offers range from a few hundreds to thousands of riyals.
Not only Islamic prayer beads are available at the expo, there are also artworks, antiques and rare objects all made of authentic natural amber. One of the prized pieces in Al Sulaiti's stall is an Swiss-made amber music box dating back nearly a hundred years while his most expensive piece is an amber stone from the Baltic region weighing 1.2kg and is worth around QR100,000.
In support of this important industry, Katara has announced its decision to set up a permanent Kahraman centre at its premises which will be a meeting point for amber traders, collectors and enthusiasts. In addition, Katara has also announced plans to establish a forum for collectors of Kahraman beads in Qatar to help them meet and exchange knowledge and experience.
Meanwhile, exhibitors praised the inaugural show being a cultural and economic event which serves as a regional and international platform for the marketing of amber products providing an exceptional shopping experience with many options that cater to all tastes and requirements of the public.
Khalifa Al Mansouri, one of the participants, lauded the Katara initiative saying that by organizing the exhibition Katara has provided a real forum for communication, exchange of experiences and knowledge in the industry in the local and international markets.
The exhibition is still open to the public today from 10am to 10pm at Katara Building 12.
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