Abstract:
Vernacular in many parts of the world,
particularly those that are rapidly developing
under the forces of globalization have been
undergoing dramatic change. From total
abandonment to superficial reconstructions,
vernacular in such societies survive often on
the edge of perceptual, social and physical
space, unsure of their place in the world and
unable to compete with the ever-modernizing
social space. However, the desire to return to,
and to immerse even momentarily in the
traditional and vernacular have resurfaced in
many a ways from ubiquitous designed
villages and renovated historic centers to
modern shopping malls in almost every
modern community.
In Bahrain, such desires manifest more clearly
and determinately during every winter period,
when the rich urban dwellers choose to
reconstruct what is perceived to be a
reproduced version of the Bedouin tents in
the cold deserts of its hinterland. The
traditional Bedouin tents in the Arabian
deserts had indeed provided for all activities
of life in the deserts in the past although now,
they have been abandoned in preference to
the individual villas, the compounds and the
housing condominiums.
Despite having been provided with the
modern amenities such as electricity, satellite
televisions, microwaves and barbecue
settings, the winter tents seem to re-enact
some of the unique cultural practices of the
past Bedouin culture. This paper takes a
closer look at the winter camps of Bahrain
which have become a modern vernacular
practice that borrows from and temporarily
reconstructs a by-gone practice of every day
living that had existed among nomadic Arabs.
It examines the history of the traditional tents
and Bedouin camps and the ways in which
they relate to the contemporary vernacular of
the winter camps. It takes the position that
the future of the vernacular lies not only in
the continuation of the old but the inventions
of the new that builds upon those cherishable
from the past.
