Falconers flock to Riyadh to celebrate ancient sport

Syria’s last shadow puppeteer hopes to save his art

RIYADH, Dec 6, (RTRS): Bird lovers from across the Gulf gathered in Saudi Arabia’s capital for a week-long falcon and hunting exhibition, aimed at increasing awareness of the ancient sport, particularly among the young.

The Saudi Falcons and Hunting Exhibition, which runs from Dec 4-8 in Riyadh, brought together falconers, breeders and hunting enthusiasts from across the Middle East and featured birds from as far afield as Siberia.

“It only lives in cold places. Here in Saudi Arabia we can only use it in the winter season because in summer the falcon will easily get tired and can’t interact and fly strongly,” said Aiman alAshgari, a falconer from Jeddah.

Hunting with falcons, a practice Arab nomads used to survive life in the desert, has become an increasingly elaborate and expensive sport, with owners keeping birds worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in vast airconditioned aviaries, using helium balloons and drones to train them at high altitudes.

Among the younger competitors was hunting enthusiast Marra al-Qahtani, who said it was important to preserve ancient traditions.

“We like technology but this does not contradict our love for hunting,” he said. “We inherited this from our grandparents and ancestors, for whom hunting was a way of life. It is a luxury now

but we still hold onto it.”

The last shadow puppeteer in Damascus lost most of his equipment to war and endured life as a refugee in Lebanon, but he now believes the old Syrian art form might survive after the United Nations said it needed to be saved.

Traditional shadow theatre was historically a staple of Damascus cafe life, as story tellers used dyed animal-skin puppets to entertain their audience with tall tales, satire, songs and verse.

Last week the UN’s cultural agency UNESCO added Syrian shadow puppetry to its list of intangible heritage in urgent need of saving, noting its long decline in the face of modern forms of entertainment and the displacement caused by war.

“Until three or five days ago, it was an art that didn’t provide bread. Now we are thinking of buying bread and eating bread... I hope for the better,” said Shadi al-Hallaq, the last puppeteer.

When he took it up in his late teens in 1993, traditional shadow puppetry was already all but forgotten and his family worried he could never make it his living. He revived the art from old stories and history books, and made the puppets himself. They are crafted from camel, cow or donkey hide and each character represents a particular social trait.