Documenting Doha: Community Archiving and Collective Memory in Qatar

Heritage experts working in Qatar contend that international museum standards do not allow them to engage with local understandings of history and heritage, thereby acknowledging the disconnect between museums and Qatari collective memory. This article posits that due to the relative absence of relatable representations in international-facing museums, Qataris, building upon a local tradition of private folk museums, are collecting and sharing their heritage materials via social media in forms known in the field of archival studies as “community archiving.” In reviewing examples of Qatari online community archives, it notes correspondences to the characteristics of community archives that have been identified by archival scholars. It concludes that while formal community archives do not exist in the country, Qataris are participating in robust community archiving activity on social media from which mainstream heritage institutions could learn