Japanese anime adds extra vibrancy to Qatar’s art scene

The growing popularity of Japanese anime (animations) and cartoons is making Qatar’s art scene even more vibrant, creating a huge community of artists, cosplayers and enthusiasts, a number of Qatari artists have said.

“The community is big. Ajyal (Film Festival) runs the Geekdom every year and it has a lot of people that are interested in fine arts, and anime production has gone up in the market,” artist Abdulaziz Yousef told reporters at the opening of ‘Colour Bar’ exhibition at Katara – the Cultural Village recently.Yousef joins five other Qatari artists – Kholoud al-Ali, Aisha al-Khulaify, Mohamed al-Sharif, Fatima al-Nisf and Hamad al-Mataowa – in showcasing their works at the exhibition, which runs until August 28 at Building 19. Besides creating short anime movies, Yousef disclosed that people from Qatar are travelling around the world to participate in various events, “which specifically celebrate anime”.“The awareness and the community itself are going bigger than what we all think,” added the artist, who also takes part in several anime conferences across the globe.Like other Qatari artists who are passionate about anime and manga (comics), he also had the opportunity to visit Japan and many of the anime studios there.Yousef said he was lucky to produce his first anime film in Japan, along with a number of Japanese artists.“Currently I am working on an anime film in India, so it is a very big mixture of journey that I have been through in the past 15 years,” he stressed.Al-Ali also shares the same experience saying a lot of people in Qatar are watching anime and gather to form art clubs and collectors’ groups. Some organise cosplays at several activities and events.