Qatar-India Year of Culture starts with Bollywood show

The Qatar-India 2019 Year of Culture was launched Friday with the award-winning 'Ticket to Bollywood' performance at the Opera House of Katara Cultural Village. This comes as part of Qatar Museums’ Years of Culture initiative.

The opening ceremony was attended by QM acting CEO Ahmad al-Namla, Ministry of Culture and Sports representative Faleh Mubarak al-Ajlan al-Hajiri, Indian ambassador P Kumaran, other diplomats from various countries and a large number of VIP guests. Launched in 2012 by QM chairperson HE Sheikha al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the Years of Culture initiative aims to introduce Qatar’s rich cultural offerings to partner countries, all the while bringing local audiences a taste of some of the world’s most exciting and inspiring cultural acts. Al-Namla highlighted the importance and objectives of the initiative. “The Years of Culture programme aims to build bridges of mutual understanding between nations through an exchange of art, culture and heritage,” he said.“This year, we are pleased to partner with India. It is impossible to touch upon all the aspects of India’s rich culture and heritage in this limited time provided to me; however, if I had to describe it in one word it would be “diversity” – a rich diversity of both landscapes and history. At the same time, I cannot forget the important and close relationship that our two countries share, particularly considering that a large Indian community resides in Qatar and calls it home,” he added.Ambassador Kumaran said the 'Year of Culture' assumes a special significance for India, as this is also the 70th Year of Indiatarget="_blank"'>