Third Katara International Kahraman exhibition opens

The third edition of the Katara International Amber Exhibition was inaugurated Friday in Building 12 of Katara-Cultural Village by general manager Prof Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim al-Sulaiti. More than 50 booths are featured in the event, which concludes on Monday. The exhibitors are from a number of Arab countries and the prominent booths including the collections of Sheikh Talal bin Khalifa al-Abdul Rahman al-Thani, which includes a large variety of amber (Kahraman) prayer beads from different sources and colours.
The Katara International Amber Exhibition is the first such specialised event in amber in Qatar, and the second largest international exhibition of its kind. The second part of 'Kahraman in Arab Heritage' prepared by Dr Mariam al-Nuaimi, was launched at the event. The first part of the book was launched in the first edition of the exhibition.
Hamad al-Sulaiti, the only Qatari member of the Medical Amber Association, based in Poland, said that the association’s goal is to spread the culture of amber in the world, as each country uses amber according to its culture. Therefore, the interest of Arab and Islamic countries in amber is focused on prayer beads, while there are many uses for amber, such as antiques, panels, and other products.
He explained that amber is fossilised resin from pine trees that have been buried underground for millions of years, just like diamonds that are extracted from the ground. Kaliningrad in Russia is one of the largest production centres, as it accounts for 90% of the world production, followed by countries in northern Europe, such as Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania. Al-Sulaiti pointed out that amber is called “men’s gold” in the Gulf, because they constitute 70% of the clients for amber products, especially light-coloured prayer beads.
Centiana of the Ukrainian company, Amber Simba, said that this is the company's second participation in the Katara International Amber Exhibition and the Qatari market is one of the major Gulf markets. Michel Kosior of the Polish Ambra Expert company, which operates the laboratory at the Katara International Amber Exhibition, said, the company aspires to have a continuous presence in the Katara Amber Center, which includes a permanent exhibition.
Katara has allocated a permanent headquarters for Kahraman in Building 10, which includes a permanent exhibition of Kahraman, training and educational workshops under the supervision of international experts, and to review specifications, standards.