Innovative, sustainable art on show at Tadweer

HE the Minister of Culture Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Hamad al-Thani inaugurated Sunday the Tadweer (Recycling) Arts Exhibition at Souq Waqif’s western zone.
Open daily from 9am-1pm and 4pm-9pm until February 29, the exhibition focuses on sustainable environment and converting recycled wood, iron and paper into innovative artworks.
On show are around 280 creations by 30 artists from 17 countries, including the US, Canada, Australia, Nigeria, Kuwait, Iraq, Italy, Iran, Costa Rica and a number of artists from Qatar.
The exhibition is organised by the Souq Waqif Celebrations Committee at Private Engineering Office in co-operation with Souq Waqif Art Centre.
"This exhibition is part of the efforts to feature extraordinary and unconventional forms of art and agrees with Qatar's sustainability strategies through the optimum use of natural resources so as to preserve them for the future generations," said Souq Waqif Art Centre director Rawda al-Mansuri.
She said that this exhibition builds on the success of the scrap arts exhibition in October 2019, but goes further with art works mainly formulated from recycled wood, iron and paper.
Exhibition arts co-ordinator Warda al-Saadi said that the participating artists were selected based on unique creative works in the field.
The exhibition is accompanied by art workshops, inspired by recycling natural materials, and open to the public.
Qatari artist Yousef Ahmed, who is participating with a number of artworks made from palm fronds and paper, described the exhibition as an excellent opportunity to promote the culture of sustainability and recycling.
The artist said he converts palm fronds into paper for his paintings, as part of employing the elements of traditional Qatari environment into modern art works.
Felix Semper from the US is exhibiting innovative stretchable sculptures made from paper.
He considers this exhibition as one of the best in the world with its stress on quality and diversity in one place.
Abinoro Collins from Nigeria has used cutlery and newspaper to create his sculptures. Among a number of similar international exhibitions in different countries that he has taken part in, he ranks the Qatar event as the best by any yardstick.
David Groenjes from the US, who makes sculptures from scrap metal reclaimed from the auto industry, expressed his admiration for the well-organised exhibition.
"For sure, I would like to display more of my works in Doha in future," he said.