Belgium Ambassador to Qatar, Bart De Groof, delivers a speech on the occasion of King’s Day as Minister of Commerce and Industry, H E Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari; Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Dr Ibrahim bin Saleh bin Khali
It was a festive celebration punctuated by scrumptious gastronomic feast and breathtaking jazz performances as the Belgian Embassy and the community marked Belgium’s King’s Day on Thursday.
Ever since 1866, the King’s Day has been observed in honour of the Belgian monarch with celebrations and last week’s event was no exception as a big number of guests and dignitaries filled Grand Hyatt Doha’s lawns to join the annual occasion.
In his elaborate speech, Belgium Ambassador to Qatar Bart De Groof praised Qatar’s steadfastness in its engagements with the international community amid the Gulf crisis as well as its openness to the world with its many initiatives.
The Ambassador also hailed the outstanding ties between Belgium and Qatar highlighting the visit to Belgium of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani during which a number of memorandums of understanding were signed and two major Qatari Belgian business forums were held.
De Groof also touched on the various fields of cooperation between the two countries from politics, trade and economy to education, culture and sport as well as other areas of mutual interest.
The King’s Day was one of the highlights of the Belgian Cultural Autumn launched by the Embassy last month to acquaint Qatar with Belgium’s vibrant cultural scene.
“What we want to do is to showcase Belgium as a country which does not only have a lot of economic, commercial and political ties with Qatar but also have a lot to offer in the cultural field. Culture brings people together, sometimes even more than trade and commerce,” De Groof told The Peninsula.
He stressed the series of Belgian events in the last two months were geared towards introducing important elements of Belgian culture and provide the host country a taste of what Belgium has to offer.
“We see culture as an extension of the official relations. We have a lot of dialogues with Qatar but this political and economic dimension has to be complemented by cultural dimension because culture tells a lot about countries. It tells a lot about what you stand for as a country and what you want to do with your country,” he added.
From film and fashion to visual art and music, the cluster of events provided a glimpse of the dynamic culture of Belgium despite its small size geographically.
The events kicked off on October 24 with the successful screening of the film “Flying Home” by Academy Award-nominated Belgian director Dominique Deruddere at the Museum of Islamic Art Auditorium as part of the first ever European Film Festival Doha.
It was followed by a fashion show at opening of the 14th Heya Arabian Fashion Exhibition at Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre on October 26 featuring the latest creations of two famous Belgian fashion designers Alicia Declerck and Zhanna Belskaya. The duo who are the founders of the Alter Era fashion house based in Antwerp, a world fashion capital, also held a forum at Heya.
On November 7, two Belgian events took place at Katara Cultural Village including the opening of ‘Mimesis, the travelling landscape’ by renowned Belgian contemporary artist Nadine Fievet at Katara Art Centre and the well-received jazz concert of famous jazz musicians Jef Neve and Nicolas Kummert at Katara Esplanade as part of the fifth annual Katara European Jazz Festival.
“Jazz is a musical form that is very popular in Belgium to which Belgium has also contributed in a major way. The major instrument in jazz is saxophone which was invented by a Belgian so many years ago by the name of Adolphe Sax, so jazz is, for us, an element of our national culture.”
The Cultural Autumn concludes with a four-day Belgian Chocolate Festival which opens tomorrow at The Torch Doha featuring chocolate tasting and making workshops by celebrity chef Laurent Gerbaud and exhibition of leading Belgian chocolate brands present in Doha.
There are about 600 to 700 Belgians registered in the Belgian Embassy in Doha who are engaged in various sectors such as construction, aviation and health.
“We are people who like to come together every once in a while. Belgians like to have this community feeling. We are a rather young community but a community that comes together quite often and celebrate things together,” said the envoy.
