Qatar Al Fann, an exhibition featuring functional art and highlighting Qatari art and culture by local artists, got underway at Doha Fire Station Art Gallery 4 on Tuesday and will run until October 27. The opening ceremony was attended by Dr Deepak Mittal, Indian ambassador; Khalifa al-Obaidly, director of Fire Station, Artist in Residence; Fahad al-Jahram, chief project delivery officer, Qatar, Qatari Diar; Mohamed Arqoub al-Khaldi, chairman, Supervisory Committee of Beautification of Roads and Public Places, Public Works Authority; Andrew Humphries, acting chief executive officer of Katara Hospitality and Nishad Azeem, CEO, Coastal Qatar, as well as members of the artist fraternity.
Qatar Al Fann aims at transforming products like street furniture, carpets, smart lighting poles among others to functional art. The artworks selected from the competition, are now displayed at the Qatar Al Fann exhibition flaunting Qatar’s art and its heritage to the global audience.
At the opening event, al-Obaidly said: “Qatar Museums supports such initiatives to engage the local artists with the art scene in Doha. The collaboration with private sector has contributed to the organisation of the event in a big way. We have been keen to encourage the role of artists in the community to explore new sectors and spaces in co-operation with local companies that provided practical opportunity for Qatari artists and residents to express their creativity through an intuitive project such as Qatar Al Fann.”
“It is a very unique project with so many artists coming together. The artists have portrayed various facets of Qatar and as an expatriate, I can understand Qatar better though these art forms,” noted Indian envoy Dr Mittal.
“Qatar Al Fann commenced with a contest to gather the best of artistic expressions from the local artists in Qatar. This is an effort at highlighting the art and culture of Qatar and engage the local artists in a big way. We had arranged a workshop for the artists and thereafter selected the best of the works for the exhibition through a jury. We also have plans to export these art works highlighting Qatari culture to other countries,” explained Azeem, the organiser of the exhibition.
The selected products are to be utilised in public spaces, hotels, offices, parks, mosques among others both locally and on projects across the world. “Qatar Al Fann stands distinct for various reasons; the foremost of all is that the products represent Qatari heritage and are made in Qatar,” sated al-Khaldi.
Coastal Qatar will organise the production of the selected products in Qatar through technology partnership with experts or manufacture them through selected sources. “Coastal Qatar feels extremely privileged to have the opportunity to promote Qatari art and heritage while providing the much deserved exposure to our artist community and support local manufacturing. Qatar Al Fann focuses to unveil the potential of our local artists by exhibiting and utilising their exquisite creations in public spaces,” added Azeem.
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