Features from Qatar

Features from Qatar portrays a girl in traditional dress, wearing a boukhnic (a traditional head covering worn by young girls in pre-modern Qatari society), sewing a button on a boy's thobe (a form of male traditional dress in the Gulf). The boy's demeanour is shy, perhaps because he is unaccustomed to such close interaction.

This portrayal reflects the artist's own shyness as a boy. The closeness of the two figures represents an emotional connection. Al-Zaini stretches the boy's torso as he grasps his misbah (string of beads), while emphasising the importance of the young girl by placing her at the centre of the work.

As in his other paintings, al-Zaini enlisted his family members to pose for the scenario he had in mind, which he then photographed for reference. The artist attached an actual button to the work to provide a realistic touch. The inclusion of such objects is a recurring method in al-Zaini's work, as is the use of old colours and rough lines to reflect the old mud neighbourhoods and traditions of Qatari society and the wider Gulf region.