Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Bin Matar House - Memory of the Place at Muharraq is open to view from today.
Designed by Bahraini architect Mussa bin Hamad and built by Haj Salman Matar in 1905, it presents the cultural identity of Bahrain through its design and architectural elements and also serves as a repository of memories of the pearling industry that the kingdom once thrived upon.
Restored to its original glory with the use of traditional materials and the addition of a dedicated exhibition space, the two-floor building will house a permanent display of the history of pearls and pearl fishing in Bahrain.
The upper floor will focus on the Bin Matar family, one of the leading members of the pearling community in Bahrain, particularly on Haj Salman Matar, the family patriarch.
The exhibition has been designed by Polish architect and designer, Agnieszka Dobrowolska with help from curator Roberta Shaw from the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada.
Having worked on the project for over a year, Agnieszka said: "We are showing here a tradition that has been almost forgotten.
"We have a continuous story that includes interesting information on how pearls are born; how they were dived for with divers free diving with special tools. There will also be a few real pearls that will form part of the exhibit.
"Some of the pearling tools - actual ones such as scales to weigh the pearls, sieves with different openings to grade the pearls, boxes they would use to keep the pearls and some original trade documents of the family will also form part of the display.
"I was told during my research that if you want to make a perfect necklace sometimes it can take as long as ten years depending upon the size and colour of pearls. So this is interesting as I knew they were precious but I had no idea how precious they were.
"The Bin Matar family has been trading with pearls for generations and the story of the family is part of the graphic design.
"I find it exciting that Bahrain is the only country in the world that forbids cultured pearls. This is quite rare.
"One member of the family said that the music of her childhood was growing up with the sound of pearls being measured on metal sieves."
The Bin Matar House has been renovated with sponsorship from Arcapita Bank. It is open to the public from 8am to 1pm and 4pm to 8pm except on Fridays.
This year the centre plans to also open the Coffee House, the Water Garden, a gift shop and a shop for traditional Bahraini sweets.
