By Anand HollaOf the several art initiatives and gatherings Qatar sees through the year, this symposium, by offering a comprehensive art residency for the third year in a row, has proven that it belongs to the very top rung.The Al Asmakh International Symposium of Art 2015 opened yesterday morning, ushering in an impressive confluence of the choicest of contemporary artists from around the world.At the Al Qasr Ballroom of Wyndham Grand Regency Doha Hotel, Hassan Ibrahim al-Asmakh, Vice President of Regency Group Holding, announced the third edition of the successful art residency programme which will feature 50 artists from an eclectic range of countries.Starting yesterday, the cultural event – put together by Regency Art, a Qatar-based non-profit art and culture-shaping organisation – will go on till March 3. On the evening of March 3, all the paintings created by the artists will be exhibited at a cocktail reception under the patronage of HE Dr Hamad bin Abdul Aziz al-Kuwari, Minister of Culture, Arts & Heritage. The art works will be thrown open to the public on March 4, from 10am to 8pm.Apart from discussing art amongst each other and partaking in a series of lectures, the artists will also embark on cultural visits around Qatar including a trip to the Museum of Islamic Art “to understand the history, culture, and beauty Qatar has to offer.” Al-Asmakh said, “After the huge success of the two previous editions, we have found that this event has been greatly awaited and has raised interest in art in the Qatari society.”Stressing on the significance of the event, Ayman Lotfy, Cluster General Manager of Wyndham Grand Regency Doha & Ramada Encore Doha, told Community, “We feel that in Qatar, we are always missing the coming together of different schools and cultures related to art.”The bigger purpose of the Symposium is to help eventually contribute to the nation, Lotfy said. “By collecting the art pieces and sculptures we have, we want to add to Qatar’s cultural heritage. Our aim is to offer something to Qatar, which it can use the way it wants,” he added.A look through the list of artists, their backgrounds and their works, will tell you that the Symposium will be an aesthetically and culturally enriching affair. Here are their names:Abdellah El Haitout (Morocco), Ajitvar Kumar Douglas (India), Ahmed Jaride (Morocco), Ali al-Kuwari (Qatar), Ali Rashid (Netherlands), Amani Fakhet (Tunisia), Amor Ghedamsi (Tunisia), Anne-Michelle Vrillet (France), Antonio Sammartano (Italy), Aram Ali Hama Hama (Iraq), Balqees Fakhro (Bahrain), Dorothea Fleiss (Germany), Elena Shumakher (Russia), Emad Hatem Mohammad (Iraq), Eslam Kamil (Sudan), Fakhir Mohammed Hassan Hassan (Iraq), Gala Caki (Serbia), Gualtiero Redivo (Italy), Katalin Verebics (Hungary), Kokichi Umezaki (Japan), Marc Stephen Rayner (Australia), Masoud Rashid Albulushi (Qatar), Mazher Hasan Ali Nizar (Yemen), Mohamed Rashed Naser Abdulla Almazrouei (UAE), Mohammed Baker (Malaysia), Mohammed Fauzi Bin Sedon (Malaysia), Mohammed Saleh Alghamdi (Saudi Arabia), Mouna Nahleh (Lebanon), Muna Khalid Bujassoum (Qatar), Najat Meky (UAE), Narmin Mustafa Awez Hawrami (Iraq), Nato Lashauri (Georgia), Nouf Ibrahim al Ibrahim (Saudi Arabia), Orhan Cebrailoglu (Turkey), Pandora Apostoloska Sazdovska (Macedonia), Rabiaa Echchahed (Morocco), Rachid Bakhouz (Morocco), Rim Ayari (France), Sonia Sabherwal (India), Susan Mary Paszkiewicztoler (USA), Tina Eskilsson (Sweden), Yusuf (India), Zaki al-Maboren (Germany), Zoltan Jeno Klara (Hungary), and Zuhair Nooh Isa Ali Alsaeed (Bahrain).Germany’s Dorothea Fleiss finds the symposium to be “a very important experience not just to me, but for all the artists.” Throwing a glance at the many artists sitting around her and engrossed in a chat, Fleiss said, “That’s because for these 10 days, we stay together, work very closely with each other, create, exchange thoughts and ideas, discuss about our art, and perspectives. We will get to not only know each other, but also know the meaning or the point of view of each artist’s works.”With quite a number of artists also being teachers at universities back home, the significance of the symposium only heightens. “If we can gain a better understanding of things from other cultures through other artists, we can take it back with us and share it with our students,” Fleiss said, adding that some of the 50 artists are also curators, like she herself is in Stuttgart.“It’s a great opportunity to make many connections, and open up possibilities for artists from Qatar and also from around the world to take part in other residencies around the world, some of which I arrange,” she said, “What we, as artists, do is a drop in the ocean for more understanding in the world. If we meet, share, and live next to each other for a few days, we can understand the different cultures a lot better than what we usually learn from the news. Direct interaction is totally different.”For around six months before bringing the artists down, Mohammed al-Atiq, General Manager of Regency Art, was on the lookout for top talents in the art scene across the globe. “I would check out artists’ websites, or find out about them through Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, and get to know who is active or who is getting what responses for their works,” al-Atiq said.The criterion for picking the 50 artists was rather simple. “We wanted artists who create contemporary art, and whose works have interesting thoughts behind them, or are driven by fascinating techniques,” al-Atiq explained, “As for the larger idea behind the symposium, it is to work towards an Al Asmakh Museum for Contemporary Art in, say, around 10 years from now.”For veteran Indian artist Yusuf, the underlying idea of “an interaction programme” appealed to him. “Whatever art you are creating in your place, you must share it here with artists from other countries. By talking, discussing, raising questions and finding answers, this will take the form of a community workshop which is essential for artists,” said Yusuf, “That’s because an artist almost always works alone, in isolation.”Yusuf paints abstracts because, he says, he likes to create forms that aren’t established. “When you work with established forms, one glance at your painting and the viewer knows that this is man, this is woman, and so on. The conversation ends then and there,” he reasoned, “Drawing out the mystery and wonder, and also setting off the viewer’s curiosity is important. Also, viewing a good painting regularly often yields varied meanings.”Abstract art is also the way to go for Turkey’s Orhan Cebrailoglu, an artist who also teaches at an art school in Konya. He calls his abstract idea for the symposium, “Fractal Reflection of Qatar,” in which he plans to assimilate his understanding of everything he comes across in Qatar – from its atmosphere and people to its food and language.“My work is heavily influenced by Sufi philosophy, a lot of it coming from the works of the great Jalaluddin Rumi,” Cebrailoglu said, “This symposium is wonderful in how it facilitates a dialogue between Arab, Asian, European, and Turkish artists, and understand their works, especially when we all create art in very different styles.”French artist Anne-Michelle Vrillet summed up what this trip and confluence means to her with just one word – synergy. “Every artist is here to build bridges between different cultures,” Vrillet pointed out.Perhaps the youngest of all is Nato Lashauri from Georgia, and her refreshing works sure hold a lot of promise. “I don’t have a special style,” she says, rather modestly, “I try to find new things; I try everything. Currently, I am experimenting with acrylic.”Even Lashauri’s perspective on the Symposium is as unconventional as her works. When asked what from this gathering of artists does she intend to absorb into her art, she said, “I don’t want to take anything. A real artist doesn’t need to take anything.”“Maybe, I am not right about this,” she said, laughing, “But I feel I have to make my own art and not borrow anything. That is the way everybody will know that it’s you.”