There are over 100 artworks spread across Qatar
Doha: Qatar is home to more than a hundred public art installations and captivating artworks are set to continue to prop up at locations across Qatar in coming years, thanks to initiatives by Qatar Museums (QM).
QM is engaging budding artists from across the region to add to the growing list of public art pieces which dot Qatar from Al Wakrah in the south to Al Ruwais and Al Zubara in the north, and Dukhan in the west of Qatar.
QM has invited mid-career artists from across the Gulf Cooperation Council countries through its Annual Intervention initiative, under which artists will install public artwork that is site-specific or community-specific.
The annual intervention’s goal is to directly serve the community by creating environments that enhance the quality of life for people within a community and foster a sense of belonging and identity. “It involves transforming ordinary and underdeveloped public spaces into vibrant, welcoming places that encourage social interaction, cultural expression, and community engagement,” QM said on its website.
All art pieces will be fabricated locally or regionally under the annual intervention initiative, applications for which closed yesterday. Past commissions under the annual intervention include ‘Shelters’ by Marco Bruno and Michael Perrone, which is located in Lusail and celebrates Doha’s cricket-playing youth; and ‘Dar Al Tayor’ by Bachir Mohamad.
Meanwhile, QM has also invited students and alumni in Qatar to propose a temporary public artwork showcasing their creativity under its Temporary Public Art Initiative. Selected artists will be commissioned to create their proposed artwork within the maximum budget of QR30,000.
The temporary pieces will be installed in Liwan Design Studios and Labs. Conditions include that artists either be students or have graduated in past two years, and the proposed artwork be fabricated locally. Applications to this initiative also closed yesterday.
Applications are also open for QM’s JEDARIART programme, which brings artists together to add vibrancy and meaning to Doha’s city walls through murals and street art.
Prominent public art pieces include 11 works at Hamad International Airport, seven pieces located at Souq Waqif and Msheireb, eight works at the National Museum of Qatar, five at the Museum of Islamic Art, six at West Bay and Cultural Village Foundation-Katara, four at Lusail, and eight creative works at the National Theater and along the Doha Corniche. Artworks also adorn Qatar University, Education City, Qatar National Convention Center, Al Bidda Park and other public places. Two dozen street murals under JEDARIART and about 15 murals under POW! WOW! Festival 2021 are also listed among public artworks.
Abdullatif Al Jasmi, who is Director of Cultural Heritage Protection at QM, recently told The Peninsula that QM is overseeing over 9,000 heritage sites across Qatar.
