Falconry Beyond Borders
Mustapha Azab
Based on a National Geographic Al Arabiya story published in December 2018, this work delves into the world of falconry, tracing the development of the ancient tradition since its inception in Central Asia, through Europe, the Near and Middle East, and eventually in the Arabian Peninsula and all parts of the Northern Hemisphere. Falconry flourished and expanded in the Arabian Peninsula, first as a means of livelihood, to be an essential constituent of the region's socio-cultural fabric. Arab falconers have developed strong bonds with the birds thanks to their unique traits and qualities, including calmness, nobleness and sociability. Falcons hunt only when hungry and never eat what other predators hunt.
The UAE has given great attention to this practice. This culminated in the inclusion of falconry in UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. For over four decades, the UAE has organized the International Festival of Falconry, where hundreds of falconers from dozens of countries gather in Abu Dhabi to exchange expertise and explore various hunting traditions. The first international conference on falconry, held in 1976, was organized by the founding leader, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, God rest his soul, who was an internationally known falconer.
Since 2011, the idea of holding the conference once every three years has been solidified, with Mustapha Azab—photographer of this feature—documenting the "language of falconry" in its most beautiful forms during its third session.
United Arab Emirates
South Africa
Mongolia 
Mexico
South Korea 
Norway 
Pakistan
Ireland
Ukraine
Morocco
Mexico
Argentina 
China
Turkey
Turkmenistan 
Saudi Arabia
Kyrgyzstan
Slovakia
China (Xinjiang)
Japan
USA