With most of the world’s attention zooming in on the State of Qatar for the FIFA World Cup, where teams taking to the pitch from November 21 until December 18, some have sought to connect with the country through other channels—animation included.   

Right before the World Cup kicked off, Song Lei, Director of the Consulting and Planning Department at China Animation Comic Game Group (CACGG) introduced the Qatar-produced animation series Kawkabani on Bilibili, a video-sharing platform in China.   

“In the six months leading up to the FIFA World Cup, the cartoonists in Qatar have created many animation series to introduce Qatari culture and customs,” Song said. “The World Cup is a great platform for that.” 

The series tells the story of an alien named Kawkabani who travels to Earth once every four years to attend the FIFA World Cup. This time, he crash-landed in Qatar  ahead of schedule where he met three local people who then took him around the country. 

The alien learned about Qatari culture, experiencing several cultural shocks. “The animated series features many iconic elements of the Middle East,” Song said.  

The cartoon aims to present Qatar’s local culture to a global audience. The country is expected to host over 1 million visitors during the World Cup.   

Different from many countries in the world that are seeing an aging society, Song said that in the Arab countries of western Asia, children aged 3 to 13 make up some 44 percent of the population. “Cartoons, with children as their main target audience, will have more potential to develop in this region,” Song said.   

Many countries have realized the role that animation could play in cultural communication and adopted it as a “cultural ambassador” for some major events, according to Song.    

Many Chinese cartoons draw inspiration from traditional Chinese culture and have also served as “cultural ambassadors.” At the International Communication Forum on Chinese Culture held by China International Communications Group on November 10, Song introduced the animated series Magic at the Fingertips jointly developed by CACGG and the China Association of Chinese Medicine. 

It tells the story of how a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) helps athletes to recover from external injuries through targeted massage techniques. The derivative products of the animation, released in early January, were displayed inside the media center at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games to journalists from home and abroad.  

“With a history of thousands of years, TCM is a goldmine for animation creation,” Song said. “We expect more sparks to fly when combining these two in the future.” 

Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon  

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