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Raffles 1887

Raffles Doha - Qatar
RAFFLES COLLECTION

Trading pages

Raffles Doha challenged London-based curator ArtLink to create an experiential library bar for the newly built property in the Qatari capital. RAFFLES 1887 spoke to ArtLink’s founder Tal Danai about the secret lives of books and how his ‘Traders of Culture’ philosophy inspired the creation of an extraordinary literary collection.

Raffles Doha - Qatar

STRATEGICALLY poised on ancient land and sea routes between Europe and Asia, Qatar has historically been susceptible to diverse cultural influences. Unlike other, more insular societies, the Qatari people have openly sought to embrace these influences, welcoming caravans of merchants to enrich their own cultural traditions and storytelling. When Raffles Doha asked ArtLink to create a library from scratch for the new hotel, the curators zoned in on this distinctive trait, labelling it ‘Traders of Culture’. It was to be their inspiration for a rare cultural adventure. 
 
ArtLink is a go-to source for hotels – often newly built ones – seeking to use the sophisticated language of art to transform bare walls into spaces of character. Nothing imbues a new hospitality venture with emotional or cultural connection quite as effectively as an art collection, and ArtLink’s portfolio of clients speaks for itself. Indeed, the owners of Raffles Doha had had ArtLink curate some spectacular art and sculpture to match the bold architectural statement made by the scimitar-shaped towers of the building itself, when it launched in 2022. But their ambitions went beyond this. 

Classic Literature Collection with Antique Sundial

Tal Danai, ArtLink’s founder, was asked to build a ‘world classics library’, within which would be housed a signature Raffles Writers Bar. He recalls, “Our intention was not to create a city library, but rather a statement that linked the Raffles brand with Qatari culture. The Writers Bar is part of the Raffles character. It’s a sanctuary where writers find inspiration to pen their next masterpiece, and where book lovers find solace in the company of great literature. If we are ‘traders of culture’ and we add this to the emotional language of Raffles, we arrive at the DNA for our Raffles Writers Bar in Doha.” 

 
Trading culture meant not just putting objects on shelves. “We wanted to trade. We needed objects with life in them. We could have produced 7,000 new books in three days, but then all you have is a display. We wanted living objects, so we insisted on buying second-hand books, with marks of life, fingerprints, coffee stains, annotations in the margins. If a guest reads it, and drops wine on it, the story of the book becomes as much about its life as an object as about the words in it.” 

Artistic Glass Feather Adorns Bookshelf of Classics

The fact that the Blue Cigar Writers Lounge – as the space was to be known – was also destined to be a cigar bar only added a further layer of interest. “We did not consider that tobacco smoke would harm the books – on the contrary, it would add to their patina and enhance the overall sensory experience,” says Danai. There is also a ‘secret library’, hidden – as in all the best whodunnits – behind one of the bookshelves. This moves aside to reveal a tiny room with another wall of books, including more than 1,000 spy and detective novels, 135 of them first editions, plus a humidor and seating for four. An ideal sanctuary for solitary reading or discreet meetings, shrouded in an air of mystery and intrigue.

The Blue Cigar library is a work of wonder in itself, but its arrival also gave the hotel an opportunity to create a unique environment of linked experiences. A heart, if you like, from which experiential arteries could flow. Things like Moby Dick-inspired cocktails; Hemingway Hour, in which his favourite daiquiris and Cuban-inspired food would be served; staged moments when an actress might read a chapter from Scheherazade; room service delivering food platters with books on the side. The creative possibilities were almost endless. And guests could even treat the library as a library, signing out books to finish during their stay. 
 
The Katara Towers building was designed to be a cultural icon, and its library reinforces this ambition. Such a meaningful collection – the books are not only in English, but also Arabic, French, Dutch, German, Italian and Spanish – conjures an inspirational environment of shared cultural exchange and storytelling. It’s the perfect way, for our times, to trade cultures for the common good.  

Raffles Doha - Qatar

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