Qatar-China Year of Culture opens

Qatar Museums (QM) and the Chinese ministry of culture hosted yesterday the official opening ceremony to launch the Qatar-China 2016 Year of Culture, under the patronage of QM chairperson HE Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.
The ceremony was attended by a number of prominent guests including HE the Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage Dr Hamad bin Abdul Aziz al-Kuwari, Chinese Minister of Culture Luo Shugang and Chinese ambassador to Qatar Li Chen.
The launch took place at the Drama Theatre at the Culture Village Foundation, Katara, where a number of special performances were held throughout the evening to celebrate the rich heritage and culture of both Qatar and China.
“We are pleased to announce the launch of the Qatar-China 2016 Year of Culture, after the successes of Qatar-Japan 2012, Qatar-UK 2013, Qatar-Brazil 2014 and Qatar-Turkey 2015. We are certain these Years of Culture constitute a valuable opportunity for interaction between our Arab culture in Qatar and other cultures around the world,” said Dr al-Kuwari.
He said that the friendship between China and the Arab world is an ancient one.
“The relationship between the Arab and Chinese civilisations goes back a long time. Both civilisations benefited each other and contributed towards the progress of human civilisation. Evidence of these close ties dates back to one of the most famous world explorers, Ibn Battuta, who introduced China to the Arab and Western worlds. His book, Journey of Ibn Battuta was translated into the Chinese language, and contributed tremendously to cultural exchange between the Chinese and Arabs.”
Al-Kuwari further stressed that, “This cultural year is only one step of many joint steps on the path of our long friendship.”
The Chinese minister lauded “the great preparatory work by the two sides.” He explained that Qatar-China 2016 Year of Culture will offer more than 30 exciting cultural events including art shows, exhibitions, film and TV programmes screening, photography showcase, book fairs, sporting events and symposiums, spanning the whole year.”
As part of the Qatar-China 2016 Year of Culture, a range of activities and events have been planned in both countries. Two major exhibitions will be held in Qatar. The first,  “What about the art? Contemporary art from China”, an exhibition from 15 contemporary Chinese artists curated by internationally acclaimed New York-based Chinese artist Cai Guo Qiang, will be on view at the QM Gallery Al Riwaq from March 14-July 16.
 The second major exhibition is “Silks from the Silk Road – Chinese silk art,” will be on view from March  24 – May 9 at the QM Gallery Katara. The exhibition presents silk as a theme, and as a special local product of Zhejiang that played an important role in the trade along the Silk Road.
The exhibition highlights ancient and modern Chinese silk works, with around 100 pieces due to be showcased at the
QM Gallery in Katara in total.
The bilateral years of culture were started under the guidance of HE Al-Mayassa in 2012. Designed to take Qatar to the world and bring the world to Qatar, the Year of Culture programme is a landmark initiative developed to deepen understanding between nations and their people through mutual exchanges of arts, culture, heritage and sport.