Established over a century ago, Qalali is one of Bahrain’s oldest folk bands. The ensemble’s work focuses on the performance and preservation of seafaring musical traditions native to Qalali Village on Muharraq Island, the northernmost island of the Bahrain archipelago, in the Persian Gulf. Historically, its residents – mostly pearl divers and fishermen – would congregate to perform song and dance centred around maritime work. Some of these songs were performed on pearl boats to help pearl divers endure harsh and dangerous working conditions; others were sung to accompany repair work on the boats between pearl hunting expeditions or upon return to land.

Qalali is particularly well-known for its performances of sawt, a type of popular music, and fijri, a traditional genre of pearl diver music inscribed by UNESCO in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2021. Although traditional pearl diving is no longer common in Bahrain, Qalali preserves the cultural memory of its musical traditions in exuberant folklorised performances that authentically transmit the legacy of Bahrain’s maritime culture to future generations.

Jury citation

"For sustaining the cultural memory of Bahrain’s pearl divers and transmitting the legacy of Bahrain’s maritime culture to future generations through the authentic performance of Al Fijri."