Thursday, 19 July 2012
DOHA: Katara promises a wide array of activities during Ramadan with the unveiling of the Katara Art Studios and Education Workshop Building and simultaneous opening of four exhibitions tonight.
Situated at the heart of the creative zone, located in Building 19, the Katara Art Studios (KAS) will serve as a hub for sharing of expertise among international and local artists and the promotion of Qatari talent.
Sa'id Costa, Curator of Visual Arts Exhibitions and Educational Programmes, said the idea of opening KAS was driven by Katara's aim of engaging with the community in addition to requests from international artists to do research in Qatar and their interest in collaborating with Qatari artists.
KAS is a fully equipped art studio, a lounge library and two workshop rooms where educational programmes in visual arts will be delivered and developed. KAS will also host an International Artist in Residency Programme which has been developed and supported by Katara in three artist studios.
The studio is expected to contribute in making a more vibrant art scene in Qatar and providing more support and exposure to Qatar's emerging artists as according to Costa, one of the requirements for international artists for its residency programme is to collaborate with a local artist.
"We are confident that the new Katara Art Studios will have an active role in supporting and developing our Qatari Artists and it will provide them with a platform to showcase their artistic abilities and enhance creative engagement," he said.
KAS will also host guest artists during their exhibitions at Katara Galleries and serve as an educational base from where knowledge exchange will be promoted and encouraged between the International Artists in Residence, the guest artists, and Qatari artists.
In addition KAS will also allow other organisations here to showcase their artworks making people know of their activities in line with art. As a start, calligraphic artworks from Fanar are on display in one of the studios.
A whole range of educational programmes for the community is in the pipeline and soon to be announced, added Costa.
The opening of the Art Studios tonight kick starts the Ramadan programme which also includes four exhibitions namely "The Beauty of Words", an Islamic Arts Exhibition in collaboration with the Sheikh Faissal bin Qassim Al Thani Museum; a large light installation exhibition, "The Garden of Contemplation" by artist Simon Heijdens; "A Matter of Time", a clocks sculpture exhibition by artist Daniel Weil and a painting exhibition with recent works by Qatari artists incorporating Arabic Calligraphy in their work.
Katara's Ramadan programme runs until the August 30 and features a rich variety of educational and cultural activities, including an Anasheed Festival, Ramadan Souq, Quran classes and exhibitions.
© The Peninsula 2012
