HE Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and other dignitaries at the CiMAM 2014 Annual Conference yesterday.
The CiMAM 2014 Annual Conference opened yesterday at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha.
CiMAM is an international committee of the International Council of Museums. This is the first time the event is being held in Qatar.
CiMAM board members and leading figures from museums and institutions around the world are attending the three-day event, described as the most important forum for communication, co-operation and information exchange between museums, professionals, visual arts workers and artists within modern and contemporary art practice.
HE Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, chairperson of Qatar Museums, opened the conference. Speaking on the occasion, she welcomed the participants and said the different perspectives being deliberated upon at the event would ultimately widen “our horizons in thinking about contemporary art and what it represents”.
“Qatar Museums is – like Qatar itself – a young institution with great ambition. Culture and art supports the realisation of our National Vision. It nurtures the transformation of a hydrocarbon nation to one based on diversity by supporting and establishing creative networks. Culture connects people of all walks of life; it has no passport and establishes a tolerant platform for dialogue.
“We are proud that as a relative youngster – Mathaf itself is four years old – we are graduating to the company of museums and institutions in the global arts world from as far afield as Chicago, Tokyo and San Francisco… as well as other important museums from across the Arab world.
“Key to our vision for arts and creativity in Qatar is the need to balance progress and heritage. Our languages and cultures may be different, but we share a common vision with CiMAM, that ‘modern and contemporary art museums have been built as institutional tools that share knowledge and education with society’.”
“At Mathaf, we place art from the Arab world as a core mission to our programmes; we also focus on education as a key mission of our exhibitions. We champion the work of artists from this region and through our local partnerships with Katara and the
Ministry of Culture, support their development. We also bring art from all around the world to inspire, influence and equip aspiring
artists from the region and educate
our communities about international art.”
HE Sheikha Al Mayassa recalled that Mathaf’s collection began when Qatar Foundation acquired the collection of Sheikh Hassan bin Mohamed bin Ali al-Thani. His collection formed the starting point of the national collection of Modern and Contemporary Arab art.
“Mathaf is also moving into its next phase of expansion as we prepare to expand our building to support our ongoing activities. Through our diverse exhibition programmes, we are initiating networks both within and across our region and the rest of the world.”
