Doha As You See It by Omar Khalifa

Doha \ As. You. See. It. by Omar Khalifa is a video featuring sights from Doha, Qatar. Lots of scenes reminded me of Dubai (especially the scenes of the construction and high rise towers), but there are parts that are uniquely Qatari.

I'm sad to say I've not visited the neighbouring Gulf cities and think it's time I do. 

www.omarkhalifa.com

Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art

Mathaf ('museum' in Arabic) is a new institution in Doha, Qatar dedicated to Arab culture and creativity. The museum is home to a permanent collection offering a unique and comprehensive overview of modern Arab art and aims to become a vital centre for dialogue and scholarship in the region.

From Mathaf's website:

Our story really begins more than twenty years ago, when our patron and founder H.E. Sheikh Hassan bin Mohamed bin Ali Al Thani first began to imagine what an Arab Museum of Modern Art might look like. He started to build a collection that could serve artists and public as a rich and representative treasure-house of modern Arab art. And he saw this collection as a starting point, to create more opportunities for artists and for art-lovers in Doha and around the world.

In an interview with The Huffington Post, Wassan Al-Khudhairi, Mathaf's chief curator and acting director said,

We want to challenge the idea that our modern art is an after-thought, or that everything we created is a copy. Arab artists engaged, shaped and contributed to modern art. (Read the full interview here.)

Here are two other recent articles about Mathaf, A Smithsonian in the sand and Doha's Mathaf museum aims to protect and conserve.


Two things that struck me about Mathaf, it is located in a former school building, (I really love that fact) and  Qatar's home grown approach in building its art institution. I'm hoping to visit it soon to check out these three exhibitions and to experience the space for myself.

• Sajjil: A Century of Modern Art showcasing modern Arab artists and works from the collection, some dating back to the late 1800.

• Told, Untold, Retold: 23 stories of journeys through time and space, featuring contemporary artists and 23 new pieces commissioned by Mathaf.

• Interventions: a dialogue between the modern and the contemporary, showing a link betwen the new commissioned works of five artists alongside their existing ones.

www.mathaf.org.qa

Hurouf: The Art of the Word

Ali Omar Ermes, The Fourth Ode, acrylic on ink paper 250x300 cmHurouf: The Art of the Word is Sotheby’s first auction dedicated entirely to calligraphy. The auction (which is on 16th December in Doha, Qatar at The Ritz Carlton) aims to represent the development of an art form that has entered its second millenium.

The sale traces the development of the Arabic script from its inception, with kufic leaves dating from the 8th century, through popular calligraphy of the 19th century, to the highest calibre works by international calligraphers working today.

It will include some of the most talented and innovative calligraphers working with the Arabic script from Japan to the United States through Turkey, the Middle East, China and the Indian Sub-Continent and will feature monumental pieces on canvas, in bronze and even neon by artists such as Dr. Ahmed Moustafa, Parviz Tanavoli and Mohammad El Baz.

Watch this video featuring Dalya Islam, Deputy Director Middle East and Indian Art and the calligrapher Dr. Ahmed Moustafa discussing the art of the word, from the early Islamic period to the present day, featuring highlights from the forthcoming sale.

One of the most fascinating things which I find about calligraphy is that when you take the earliest for, the kufic script and you compare it to calligraphy today, what you find is that they are both very conceptually driven. The kufic script was developed as a way to convey the word of God, something which is beyond our understanding.The letters were stylised so that you couldn't really understand them easily. And a lot of what you see today is actually much more about the aesthetic and the idea behind it. It's more about the concept rather than the meaning of the word on the canvas. I think it's fascinating that artists today can take western principles and apply them to such a traditional Islamic script and bring out something totally new and fascinating.
Dalya Islam, Deputy Director Middle East and Indian Art

If you don't have the cash for this auction, you can enjoy the exhibition which is on for three days before the auction, from 13th-15th December.

Calligraphy can look so poetic and beautiful, as Dr. Ahmed Moustafa says in the video, it's like "music for the eyes". If you are in Doha, Qatar, lucky you. Go and enjoy this unique exhibition and if you have he cash, buy yourself a piece or two.

Event details:
Exhibition dates: 13th - 14th December 2010, Public view 10:00am-2:00pm and 4:00-10:00pm / Ladies only 2:00am - 4:00pm

Auction date: Thursday, 16th December 2010 at 7:00pm

Venue: The Ritz Carlton, Doha, Qatar

Phone: +974 4452 8333
Email: QATAR[at]SOTHEBYS[dot]COM

www.sothebys.com
                       

I am Film at the Doha Tribeca Film Festival 2010

Adel Imam, Actor
The second edition of the Doha Tribeca Film Festival starts today and will go on till 30th October. I was intending to go for a few days, but for personal reasons I can't make it. So needless to say, I'm quite gutted as I will miss out on the great outdoor cinema experience  set up for this festival. The complete schedule can be found here and if you are going to this festival, please let me know about your experience.

Besides the film festival and TEDx Doha's Fun and Important evening on 29th October, there is a city wide photography exhibition by the renowned French photographer Brigette Lacombe.

“I am Film: Work in Progress” is an ongoing project that has taken Brigitte Lacombe, her sister Marian Lacombe and the Doha Film Institute throughout the Middle East and around the world to begin the first comprehensive photographic documentation of this region’s emerging and iconic cinematic storytellers.

Here's a small selection of photos from this exhibition, it includes talent from Dubai, Ali F Mostafa, Mahmoud Kaabour and Nayla Al Khaja. There are over 100 portraits from this exhibition which can be found here. This project also includes video portraits and I plan to create a separate post featuring some of the videos. For now, check out the video at the end of this post, it's a clip showing behind the the scenes of the printing process of these photos that will be displayed across the city.

I love these portraits, I want Brigitte Lacombe to photograph me!

I also love how this festival has a wide presence across the city of Doha. If you are in Doha this week, have a lovely time!

Alfonso Cuaron, Filmmaker

Ali F Mostafa, Filmmaker

Bader Ben Hirsi, Filmmaker

Hiam Abbas, Actor

Hend Sabry, Actor

Ibrahim El Batout, Filmmaker

Juliette Binoche, Actor

Khaled Abol Naga, Actor

Mohammad Bakri, Actor/Filmmaker and Saleh Bakri, Actor

Mona Wassef, Actor

Nayla Al Khaja and Mahmoud Kaabour, Filmmakers

Rahab Elewaly, Animator/Filmmaker

Shekhar Kapur, Filmmaker

Terry Gilliam, Filmmaker

Yasmine Al Massri and Kais Nashif, Actors

Youssra, Actor

A behind the scenes look at the printing the portraits:

www.dohafilminstitute.com/filmfestival
www.iamfilm.dohafilminstitute.com
www.brigittelacombe.com

Doha Tribeca Film Festival 2010

The Doha Tribeca Film Festival announced its line up for this year's festival which is scheduled to run between 26th-30th October. Over 40 movies are in the line up (all listed after the jump) and it's a good mix of Arab and International movies that include shorts, full features and documentaries.

I will share my top recommendations after I research each title over the next few days, so do come back for more. In the meantime, enjoy this promo clip for the Doha Film Institute and world renowned French photographer Brigitte Lacombe’s "I AM FILM" exhibition, which will be launched in on the opening day of festival on 26th October.

Brigitte Lacombe first came to Doha in 2008, then returned in 2009 to attend the first ever Doha Tribeca Film Festival. She was so inspired by the community spirit and filmmaking talent that this year, she and her sister Marion Lacombe, a former journalist travelled the globe to capture over 100 portraits and intimate interviews with some of the world’s most important emerging and iconic cinema talents. Glad to see it includes Dubai favourites Ali Mostafa and Mahmoud Kaabour.

 

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