On the back of a successful debut edition, Qatar Museums (QM) has partnered again with the New York Times for a second year to treat Doha to the much-celebrated Art for Tomorrow conference, scheduled from March 12 to 15 at the W Hotel.
The conference that will once again unite the who’s who of the global art scene in Doha reflects the growing international recognition for Qatar’s contribution to dialogue and progress through art and underlines QM’s progress at turning into a vibrant centre for the arts, culture and education.
While QM will announce details about the event in the coming days, it has mentioned about it in its new blog post, giving a good idea of what to expect: “Art for Tomorrow brings together some of the world’s leading artists, curators, art collectors and museum directors to explore the complex relationships between the digital world and the creative process, the nature of creativity, its impact on developing cities and nations, and what goes into making a city ‘creative’.”
At the inaugural edition, last year, more than 500 senior leaders from the arts, public and private sectors, tourism experts, city planners and business developers were in attendance to discuss the changing dynamics of art and architecture and their potential to transform people and places. Guests were treated to key note speeches from 45 internationally renowned figures and cultural pioneers, as well as the leading lights of the arts and culture community from across the Middle East and in Qatar.
Driven by the overall theme of Technology, Creativity and the City, the upcoming edition of Art for Tomorrow will gather the world’s top artists and architects, and leading museum directors, urban developers, policy-makers and financiers to address critical issues such as the need for museums to reinvent themselves for a new generation and figure out the co-existence of the digital and real art markers, and their impact on the creative cities of tomorrow.
From exploring the role of art in developing or regenerating a nation’s or city’s authentic identity to discussing the future of the museum, virtual or real, and its contribution to urban or wider cultural contexts, the event covers the whole spectrum of curiosities and concerns surrounding the world of art.
Some of the speakers at the event are performance artist Marina Abramovic, artist Jeff Koons, Google’s Director of Public Policy for Italy, Greece and Malta Giorgia Abeltino, UAE-based columnist Sultan Sooud al-Qassemi, Unesco Assistant Director General for Culture Francesco Bandarin, and Victoria and Albert Museum Director Martin Roth. Community gives you a first look into the highlights of the agenda of what promises to be the Qatar’s biggest art event of the year:
On the evening of March 12, starting 6pm, a welcome reception and ‘Art Lab’ tour will flag off the proceedings – Art Lab is a pop-up art installation on Level 29 of the W Doha Hotel & Residences.
The programme for March 13 begins with a welcome note by Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, chairperson, Qatar Museums, and Arthur O Sulzberger Jr, chairman and publisher, The New York Times Company.
Then, Keynote 1: Smart City, Creative City, featuring Charles Landry, author: The Creative City: A Toolkit for Urban Innovators will address the question: Does creativity now depend on technology? Keynote 2: Culture – Towards a New Urban Agenda will have Francesco Bandarin, assistant director general for culture, Unesco, discuss the city as a key actor in sustainable development, and culture as a key element in civic, national and international development strategies. This will be followed by a discussion featuring Charles Landry and Francesco Bandarin in Conversation with Roger Cohen, columnist, The New York Times.
A panel discussion on The Digital Museum will have experts talk about how digital technologies and traditional museums can co-exist in a time when the former can offer experiences that the latter can’t. In Digital Originals # 1 and #2, we get a precious insight into the working methods of artist Parker Ito, whose medium is the world wide web, while artist and futurist Pia MYrvoLD will tackle issues, concerns, techniques and work-rounds as a creator of ‘digital originals’.
Some of the other subjects that will tackled on the day are The Established vs the Emerging Creative City: New York and Los Angeles; and Digital Editions: how is the Internet redefining the value of art?
The much-celebrated Jeff Koons will deconstruct how a ‘celebrity artist’ approaches a collaborative project, and how much is the work for self or for community. A panel discussion featuring Koons and Dakis Joannou, civil engineer, architect and art collector, J&P, will seek simpler answers for complex questions such as: Does the digital landscape put pressure on the private collector to show a responsibility to the public, who may never have had the chance to see some of the world’s great artworks? What effect will ‘unlimited access’ have on the relationship between artist and collector?
While a panel session titled Artist as Architect, Architect as Artist, will explore the space between architecture and art, and examine the mix of creative urges in both kinds of practitioner, another panel talk titled Will the Internet Redefine the Global Art Market? will discuss whether the Internet will eventually replace traditional galleries, museums and government funding bodies. Columnist Sultan Sooud al-Qassemi and artist Sophia al-Maria will discuss what Doha, the ‘emerging’ creative city, can learn from creative communities around the world.
Tuesday features discussions on topics such as Culture and the Established City: the new urban paradigm, which assesses the impact of new cultural institutions and activities on older cities; and The Patron and the Emerging Artist, which tries cracking the best ways to help the next generation of artists grow and nurture. In the discussion titled The Creative Airport, the brilliant minds behind Hamad International Airport’s new extension discuss the role of art in transit hubs and explain the rationale of the new building.
Towards the end of the conference, there’s Art at the Eclipse of Capitalism: The collaborative, co-operative and crowd-based business models of the digital age are essentially opposed to capitalism’s competitive philosophy. How does the practice of ‘new art’ contribute to this (arguably) incoming sea change?
In A Symphony of Color, the subject is Cyborg Neil Harbisson’s performance that round his lyrical and provocative perception of the relationship between technology, colour and sound – a fitting finale to the conference.
While participation at Art for Tomorrow is by invitation only, you can make a request on their website. Once accepted, you can avail the Full Experience Package at $1,995, which includes all sessions, receptions and tours.
CONVERGENCE: A scene from the Art for Tomorrow conference last year.
