Some expatriates who are fairly new to Qatar have lauded the art-related activities in Katara - the Cultural Village, saying the workshops are “perfect” opportunities for bonding and to meet new people.

Anna Wahidi, a housewife from Poland visited Katara’s Building 19 yesterday to attend the ‘paper mache’ workshop with her 10-year old son, Yacob.
“As a mother of three kids, I always look for something to do after school and this workshop is an excellent opportunity. It is our first time to attend a workshop in Katara and we’re very happy to be here,” she told Gulf Times.
Wahidi said the workshop, which is among the series of art workshops slated in the coming weeks at Katara, will teach Yacob new skills and develop not only his creativity but also his personality and character.
“It is also the perfect chance to meet new kids; we are foreigners in this country, and far from our families back home in Poland so, this is the perfect place to meet other children with the same interests.
“This is a project of working together and doing something together. My objective is to let my children meet other kids of other nationalities and do something along the lines of ‘learning while playing’. That is a nice concept,” she pointed out.
Software engineer Shais Shajahan has been staying in Qatar for the past six months. She and her husband, Jowhar Backer, were among the handful of adults attending the paper mache workshop.
“I have a passion for the arts and I do a lot of crafts. I work with paper arts and also do decorations with paper. This is my first time to do something like this in Qatar. I have done this before back in India but I thought of attending this workshop to gain inspiration and to get to know new people,” she said.
“I think it works for the brain, as well. You’re doing something creative and you tend to put that creativity and innovation into in your work later. As an expatriate, it also helps take away the stress from being away from family,” she added.
Both Wahidi and Shajahan agreed there is a need to launch more awareness campaigns on the range of activities being held in Qatar, especially during the weekends.
Wahidi said her objective is to develop Yacob’s skills further by letting him join more activities in Katara. She added that the workshop also helps raise consciousness on issues like recycling and environment protection.
“This is also a perfect opportunity for Yacob to learn more about recycling paper and how it can help protect the environment. He is very interested in recycling, especially after he learned about it in school.
“Since then, we’ve been segregating our garbage at home, although in the community where we live, there is very little awareness about the importance of garbage segregation,” she pointed out.
Another paper mache workshop (‘Newspaper Paste Low Relief Painting on Canvass’) will be held today from 4pm to 8pm, according to the Katara website.
This will be followed by two other workshops on September 30 (‘Paper Mache Cactus Sculpture’) and October 1 (‘3D Paper Sculpture Art’), respectively. All workshops will be held at Katara’s Building 19 from 4pm to 8pm.
For registration and to view other workshops at Katara, visit http://www.katara.net/en/learn/lectures-and-workshops.

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