Qatar Museums (QM) public art initiatives such as “Jedariart” are crucial to serve as a bridge between artists and the general public, Qatar-based artist Michael Anthony Perrone has said.
“The Jedariart programme literally takes the work to the streets, outside of the pristine museum setting ... it makes the work more approachable, more relevant to the average persons’ life,” he told Gulf Times via an e-mail interview.
Perrone is one of the 17 artists who will “breathe life into designated walls across the city” as part of the QM’s ongoing campaign, launched last month, to activate shared urban areas.
Jedariart, organised in partnership with the Supreme Committee of Beautification of Roads and Public Places, QRail, Woqod, and the Doha Fire Station: Artist in Residence, will see artists create artwork at designated locations in Qatar.
Perrone, currently in the US, is being assisted by former and current students in painting a mural at the Doha Festival Interchange.
Other artists can be seen creating their pieces at Al Abraj Park, Al Asmakh area, Al Khor Interchange, Post Office Park, 5/6 Park, 5/6 Flyover, Qatar National Library Metro Station, and the Woqod Petrol Station in Fereej Kulaib.
“What an amazing programme. I’m so excited to be involved ... it’s been a wonderful experience,” Perrone said. “Sometimes ‘art’ can be intimidating, with people not always feeling comfortable engaging with contemporary art.”
He said that one of his assistants told him that an older gentleman who parked his car just by the mural site stayed for a while, observed the painting carefully, and came over to talk with two of his assistants, Amna al-Muftah and Maha Nasr.
“Maha told me that the man said ‘he loved the painting so much, and that he appreciates the art and was so glad that he is seeing us playing a part in this’,” Perrone said. “He was very interested in the painting, Maha told me, specifically in the line work, and he said that he wants to come again and see it when it is finished.”
“It’s moments like this that an artist lives for ... when someone literally stops their life to look at your work.
“I’m so happy to have my former and some current students, helping me paint the mural while I am away from Doha,” he said. “And the fact that they are having such a positive experience with the public, just makes it all the more special for me.”
The artist noted that the composition of his work is based on a mural he did at his home in Vermont, US – an old building from 1906 – where many of its walls are made of plaster, which after some time has cracked.
Perrone recounted that he and his wife, Mariah Dekkenga, repaired the cracks.
“I started painting the repaired crack lines as a way to begin the painting ... then, I slowly refined the composition, straightening lines, removing some and adding others.”
Perrone noted that the mural in Vermont has variations of grey and blue, and working with colleagues at the QM, Sara Foryame Lawler and Dimitrije Buugarski, they thought the mural might work better in Doha if it had a brighter palette.
“So, I put a photo into Photoshop and re-painted it digitally. It makes the painting more lively and celebratory, similar to the lighting on many buildings throughout Doha,” he said.
“The main concept for the artwork was that, since I couldn’t be in Qatar right now, this was a way for me to bring a piece of my Vermont-self (the mural I created here), to my family/community in Doha … let them ‘see’ my life here, through the mural,” he said. “And of course, having some of those people help create/paint the mural in Qatar, makes it that much better for me, as a way of connecting my two worlds.”
The other participating artists are Mubarak al-Malik, Huda Basahal, Noura al-Mansoori, Dimitrije Bugarski, Nada Khozestani, Sharefa al-Mannai, Thamer al-Dossari, Muna al-Bader, Fatima al-Sharshani, Maryam al-Maadhadi, Shuaa al-Kuwari, Abdulaziz Yousef, Abdulla al-Emadi, Alanoud al-Ghamdi, Haifa al-Khuzaei, and Aisha al-Fadhala.