The Fire Station: Artist in Residence opened two exhibitions on Monday, during Qatar Creates week, by Qatar-based artists titled *Picnic ’88 and *Curator in Residence 2023, on display until May 14 at Gallery 3 and Gallery 4.
*Picnic ’88, by Kuwaiti/Qatari artist Anfal Alkandari, continues the conversation of the inner child theme and parallel universes.
The installation is a reimagination of a picnic that she had in 1988 at the age of six.
The second exhibition, *Curator in Residence 2023, highlights the research and process of two residents of the Curator in Residence programme, Ahmad Soliman (Egypt) and Abdulla al-Mutairi (Kuwait).
The programme launched in 2020, allows regional and international curators to apply for a three-month residency at the Fire Station.
In collaboration with Qatar – Middle East, North Africa and South Asia (MENASA) 2022 Year of Culture, Fire Station accepted four curators for the years 2022-2023.
Soliman’s project, titled *By the Sun and its Radiant Brightness, started during the Curator in Residence programme at the Fire Station, and are paintings that aim to highlight the diversity of plant species in Qatar.
The exhibition will also include an archive of dried plants part of Soliman's continuous research and process.
In parallel, al-Mutairi’s project will present scanned photographs and handwritten documents from the archive of Kuwaiti artist Khalifa al-Qattan's personal archive.
Al-Mutairi's research provides a glimpse into the artist’s influence in the Arabian Peninsula during the Modern period.
The display will shed light on the art scene in the region from pre-independence to the year 2000.
In a press statement, Fire Station director Khalifa Ahmad al-Obaidli said: “We invite the public to join us in experiencing these thought-provoking and inspiring exhibitions at Fire Station Artist in Residence.”
Alkandari was a resident at Cité internationale des arts in Paris as part of the nine-month Paris Residency Programme at the Fire Station (2022).
Her work has been exhibited at the Fire Station, Almarkhiya Gallery and Ajyal Film Festival.
Soliman is a writer, illustrator, designer and researcher from Egypt, with a background in biological sciences, botany, plant taxonomy, archaeology and Egyptology.
He contributed to book publishing, developed content of visual materials, participated in illustration exhibitions, organised workshops, conducted lectures and received many awards.
Al-Mutairi, an artist and writer based in Kuwait and a founding member of the contemporary art collective “GCC”.
His writing has been featured in publications such as the *Journal of Arabian Studies and ArtAsiaPacific, and his work has been exhibited at institutions such as Sharjah Art Foundation, the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Fridericianum in Kassel, Germany.
Entry to the exhibitions will be free for adult residents of Qatar or GCC countries.
Garage Gallery hours – Saturday to Thursday: 9am-7pm, Friday: 1.30pm-7pm.
