Al Markhiya Gallery puts spotlight on Arab artists

DOHA: Al Markhiya Gallery brings the works of contemporary Arab artists from different countries and aesthetic styles to the limelight at its ongoing exhibition, ‘Summer Collection Part II’.

The exhibition, which opened at Souq Waqif on Tuesday, includes a wide selection of paintings by 15 contemporary artists from across the Arab world. The works in the exhibition, which will run until September 1, puts spotlight on the aesthetic directions and innovations of Arab fine arts.

‘Summer Collection Part II’ hopes to show a wide variety of works in different styles in order to satisfy visitors who have divergent tastes and preferences. The styles represented include both abstract and representational works, reflecting the innovations of Arab artists and the extent to which they have brought forth a new creative spirit in the plastic arts.

Through the ‘Summer Collection Part II’ exhibition, the gallery hopes to acquaint viewers with the variety of painting techniques and ideas from different Arab countries as well as their impact on the Qatari cultural landscape.

Qatari artists featured in the exhibition include Ali Hassan and Wafika Sultan.

Also participating are Egyptian Adel el Siwi, Lebanese Ginou Choueiri and Syrian artist Ghazwan Allaf.

Works by three Iraqi artists, Salman Abbas, Ismail Azzam and Salah Hadi, are also on display. Other artists represented at the exhibition include Bahraini’s Jamal Abdul Rahim and Moroccan Mohammed Murabiti as well as Palestinian artists Mohammad al Wahibi and Abdulrahman Katanani.

Last month, Al Markhiya Gallery organised the first of its summer shows, ‘Summer Collection Part I’, which also focused on contemporary Arab artists. That exhibition included works by Qatari artists Sinan Hussein and Faraj Daham, Egyptian Mohammad Abou Elnaga and Ismail al Rifai, an acclaimed Syrian artist and writer.


Source: Qatar Tribune

CMU-Q students showcase their research skills

Raggi Al Hammouri (right), who won the second place in the competition.

DOHA: Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q) at its sixth annual ‘Meeting of the Minds undergraduate research symposium’ recently, exhibited  diverse range of studies done by students.

About 30 teams of undergraduate and post-graduate students presented their research projects at the annual symposium, which highlights some of the best ongoing student research at CMU-Q.

Research projects by students majoring in Business Administration, Computer Science and Information Systems were featured, along with projects completed by students taking Architecture classes at the university this semester.

“Research is an all important part of the programs and coursework at both Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh and here in Qatar. Five of the projects being presented today are the result of our funded Summer Research Programme that pairs student researchers with faculty mentors on a research project over a ten week period,” said John Robertson, assistant dean of academic affairs at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar.

Research by Edmond Abi Saleh, a senior in business administration at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar has compared growth patterns over time of Islamic and traditional finance.

In a research project titled ‘Islamic Finance Meets Wall Street,’  Saleh found that the Dow Jones Islamic indexes, after accounting for initial volatility, noise cancellations and price corrections, showed no substantial differences in growth from the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

“For the same amount of risk, the investor gets the same amount of return. The added benefit, of course, is religious peace of mind,”   Saleh said of the Shariah-compliant market.

Saleh’s research won him best poster and best undergraduate project at Carnegie Mellon’s sixth annual Meeting of the Minds undergraduate research symposium.

He chose the topic because Islamic finance is rarely addressed in research.

“As I was undertaking my research, many of my professors were interested to learn of my findings. I think that sets the mark for valuable research – research that can produce knowledge.

“As I move to becoming a graduate next week, I hope that I have left my mark on the university with my research and the next generation of students shows a greater interest in discovering more about Islamic finance,”  Saleh said.

Fellow senior, Raggi Al Hammouri, a computer scientist and QF achiever, worked with the Williams Technology Centre on a project, titled ‘Developing Scenarios for a Qatar-specific Road Safety Simulator,’ to develop specific, simulated training programmes for learner drivers in Doha.

Al Hammouri earned second place in the competition while computer science student Amna Zeyara’s project, “Evaluation of the Ability of a Robot to Embody Different Cultural Traits,” took third place.

“For our students, research is much more than a section of the course syllabus – it is at the foundation of a Carnegie Mellon education. Our faculty is working tirelessly to foster a lifetime of inquiry in our students that will benefit not only themselves, but also the country’s future development,” said Ilker Baybars, dean of Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar.

Post-graduate researchers also demonstrated the fruits of their work at Meeting of the Minds. Abderrahmen Mtibaa’s research, “Challenges in Mobile Opportunistic Network,” was awarded the best post-graduate project.

Each project was judged by a review committee consisting of experts from Qatar’s academic institutions and industry including representatives from the General Secretariat for Development Planning, Doha Bank, Qatar Shell Research & Technology Center, Qatar Shell GTL, Qatar University, Aspire Zone Foundation, Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, Texas A & M University at Qatar, ictQatar, Qatari Diar, deltaDOT, Qatar Computing Research Institute, Total Research Center Qatar, Vodafone Qatar, iHorizons and Al Jazeera.

Source: The Peninsula

Art is the only business in Salma Al Malik’s life

DOHA: Having exhibited his paintings and other works in the country, and around the world, since the seventies Salman al Malik has come to be recognised as one of Qatar’s leading artists and more. 

Born in Doha in 1959, he studied Art and Education in Cairo, before returning to Doha to apply his training to a visual arts scene in Doha that was, at the time, in its infancy, parallel to creating his own works in multiple media. 

His efforts bore results when he succeeded in opening the Youth Creative Art Center in 1997. Seeking to, as he once put it, “make art as popular locally as is football”, he is applying his expertise to enrich the country’s cultural landscape from the ground up, offering space to young Qataris, men and women, to create, and to be inspired by art in all its forms. 

Salman, a sculptor who co-founded the Qatar Association for Plastic Arts, has, since 1972, been contributing editorial cartoons to several local publications, including Al Raya and Al Watan newspapers, and News of the Week magazine. 

By his own admission, it took him a while to gain reputation as an artist. Immediately after graduation, and return to Doha, “I did what anyone else would do. I found a job and started working. At the same time, I participated in a series of local art exhibitions having decided to pursue art as a calling, and to devote my life to it. Soon, I found myself drawing for a living. This was when I started to draw a daily editorial cartoon for a local Arabic paper.”

Citing Qatari culture, as well as by the major artistic figures and movements in history as his major influences, he made special reference to British painter Francis Bacon. Describing his own work in terms of style, he said “I have studied both Surrealism and Impressionism, and one could say that my own work bears stylistic influences of both schools. Women feature prominently in my work, but an important part of this is a metaphorical understanding in which women symbolise the nation, in which one grows and is nurtured, or the imagination, which brings about change. 

“I have used images of the Qatari woman in my work, abaya and all, and what I seek to convey here is a synthesis of tradition and modernity, a combination of both. In this way, I can present a work that is at once identifiable as pertaining to tradition, while existing in these modern times. So, if someone in South America saw one of my works, he would be able to unmistakably identify it as belonging to Qatar to the Middle East, and this is the identity which my work conveys.”

He describes Youth Creative Art Center which he founded and has chaired for much of its 15-year history as “the first specialised establishment sponsoring the artistically talented in Qatar.” Talking about the idea that led to the birth of the Center, he said “I visited Washington, DC, in 1995 with a fellow artist. We went to a special school for gifted youth, those who had a tendency to achieve significantly higher grades than the average student. I was intrigued by this idea, and wondered why we could not have just such a school, but for those with a demonstrable talent in the arts, in Qatar. 

“Almost immediately upon my return, I committed to bringing this idea to life, and pitched it to executives of the General Authority for Youth & Sports, who could help me achieve this goal. They asked me to submit a detailed plan outlining the project and its aims, and they were impressed with this. 

They adopted the project, and gave it their full support, and, sure enough, the Youth Creative Art Center came into being in 1997.”

The Center is an important hub of the local art. “The Center is open to the youth of Qatar who have artistic talent, in all forms, including theatre and music in addition to the visual arts. In fact, today we can say that the majority of youth engaged in the art scene in the country are graduates of the Center, having been nurtured creatively in the Centre’s supportive environment,” he said. 

Salman is proud of Qatar’s vibrant cultural scene, and one can easily argue that he was instrumental in its making. “From what I see, perhaps the most active aspect of Qatar’s cultural arena is that of visual art. This is based on the sheer number of art exhibitions which are held here, the number of practising artists, as well as the presence of Qatari art on the local, the Arabic regional and, increasingly, on the international levels. 

“The Qatar Fine Arts Society, headquartered in Katara, plays an important part in this. All of Qatar’s visual artists are members of this organisation, and incidentally, it is a good place to start if one is looking to ‘get into’ Qatari art. In addition, they organise many exhibitions, competitions and other events which showcase local artists. The Youth Creative Art Center also plays a part here, and we organise the occasional exhibition as well. 

“However, the Center is most focused on nurturing local talent. We have our headquarters on Ali Bin Abi Talib St, in Al Assiri area. We have facilities, including art studios. We also offer courses, organise workshops and provide art supplies to encourage and instruct and support talented youngsters,” he said. 

Salman is hopeful that things will continue to be like they are now. “I hope that local art and artists continue to receive support, both in the public and the private spheres. The private sector has an important role to play here, of supporting local artists by purchasing their art works. In this way, we would see increasingly more art in buildings, offices, such as the towers in West Bay. This would also have the effect of enriching the environment visually.”

Source: Qatar-Tribune

Creative designers and artisans present Arab-inspired works at Katara exhibition

Visitors look at artworks during the ‘Contempoary Perspective in Middle East Crafts’ at Katara Art Centre yesterday. (Shaival Dalal)

BY RAYNALD C RIVERA

DOHA: The creative minds of international designers meet with the expert hands of Middle Eastern artisans unleashing a unique set of Arab-inspired objects now on display at the ‘Contemporary Perspectives in Middle Eastern Crafts’ exhibition which opened yesterday at the Katara Art Centre.

“We strongly believe the Middle East has a great potential to bring original design into the world,” said Pascale Wakim, co-founder of Beirut-based Carwan Gallery, which is behind the project. 

A chandelier made of agal (headband used my Arab men); a sideboard resembling mashrabiyas (delicate wooden window screens found in Middle Eastern architecture) and extrusion bowls, stool, high tray and table inspired by intarsia and lathe crafts which date back to 1200 BC Middle East are some of the more interesting objects displayed at the exhibition.

Featured designers at the month-long expo are Karen Chekerdjian (Lebanon), Khalid Shafar (UAE), Lindsey Adelman (US), Marc Baroud (Lebanon), Mischer Traxler (Austria), Nada Debs (Lebanon), Oeuffice (Canada), Paul Loebach (US), Philippe Malouin (Canada) and Tamer Nakisci (Turkey).

The project was undertaken to show the compatibility of traditional craft with modern design and encourage collaboration between the designers and the artisans.

“This shows traditional objects can be used to create other objects,” said Carwan Gallery co-founder Nicolas Bellavance-Lecompte, explaining the ‘Arabi Chandelier’ by Emirate designer Khalid Shafar who will present a live demonstration using pearls at the upcoming Design Days Dubai 2013 fair.

Carwan Gallery is one of the nine galleries from the Middle East out of 29 galleries which will feature at the second edition of Design Days Dubai to be held from March 18 to 21. 

Presenting an exclusive preview of the fair, Design Days Dubai Fair Director Cyril Zammit said a total of 683 unique pieces would be showcased at the event which would feature installations, performances and educational programme.

‘Contemporary Perspectives in Middle Eastern Crafts’ runs until April 2 at the Concept Space at the Katara Art Centre, which aims to explore with Doha-based audience the ideas behind design and encourage experimentation, to inspire local designers and connect them to the work and the concepts of designers in the wider region and around the world.

Source: The Peninsula