Culture & Art

DOHA: Al Markhiya Gallery celebrates the Summer this year with a collection of local art, simply called the Summer Collection. The Summer Collection is split into three parts.

DOHA: Qatari Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage Hamad bin Abdel Aziz Al Kuwari and Syrian Minister of Culture Ryad Naasan Agha gave last week the go-ahead signal for a series of cultural activities on the sidelines of Al Assad Library Book Fair.

DOHA: In his book “Heritage and Narration”, the noted critic and researcher Hassan Ali Al Mekhlif tries to connect Arab achievements in narration, particularly on the Syrian front, with the overall Arab narration.

DOHA: “Every text is a mosaic of quotations, absorbing, changes other texts” - - Julia Christivia.

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DOHA: The Lebanese publishing house Alghaoon had recently released a new poetry collection by the Lebanese poet Ahmad Al Mulla.

DOHA: Members of Doha Theatre Team are busy with rehearsals for their new play, ‘Zubari Travels’, which is due to be presented on stage next Monday and Tuesday at the Qatar National Theatre. The performance is part of the events being held to mark the Doha Capital of Arab Culture programme.

Ibrahim Mohammed, team leader, said his team had stepped up training in recent days in preparation for the National Theatre’s performance.

He said members of his team would continue to give instructions for the preparations so that the show is perfect.

DOHA: Children got to enjoy the latest animation films for four days during this year’s ‘Children’s Film Festival’, which was organised by the Qatar Cinema and Film Distribution Company in conjunction with the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage.

The four films were screened from July 28 to July 31 at the Mall and Landmark.

The films included How to Train Your Dragon, Shrek Forever After, Toy Story 3, and Despicable Me, which were all released this year.

DOHA: The Department of Research and Cultural Studies at Qatar’s Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage recently published two new books as part of celebrations marking the Doha Capital of Arab Culture 2010 programme.

The two books are, Traces of Heritage in Samih Al Qasim’s Poetry, which is written by Qatari researcher Lulua Hassan Al Abdullah, and Parental Abuse of Children: An Effective Treatment Programme, written by Qatari researcher Aml Maslamani.

Al Abdullah brings to light the use of references to heritage in the poetry of the Palestinian poet Samih Al Qasim.

DOHA: The committee organising celebrations as part of the Doha capital of Arab culture events has set up several stalls in different areas and opened outlets in shopping malls with the aim of informing members of the public about the programmes.

The stalls aim to offer information services to citizens on programmes related to the celebrations, which are being held nationwide.

The chairman of the Media Section at the committee, Marzouq Bashir, said his section got instructions from the Minister of Culture and the Chairman of the Supreme Celebrations Committee for promoting the celebrations everywhere in Qatar.

DOHA: Having received an invitation to be the guest of honour at the annual Damascus Book Fair, Qatar had started preparations for the event with meetings and consultations, aiming at ensuring ideal participation by the Gulf state in the international cultural event.

The Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage and the Chairman of the Supreme Celebrations Committee, H E Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al Kuwari, received the invitation to the event, which started on July 29, from his Syrian counterpart, Riyad Nassan Agha.

Al Kuwari gave the go-ahead for preparations for Qatar’s participation in the fair. He ordered the creation of a programme commensurate with the status of Doha, the capital of Arab culture this year. The programme was prepared under the auspices of Mubarak bin Nasser Al Khalifa, the secretary-general of the ministry and the vice president of the Supreme Committee for the celebrations.

DOHA: Youth from Al Kaaban Youth Centre, Jamilla Centre, and the Sports Club took part in an evening of poetry last week to listen to poetry and a series of lectures on Arab culture.

The Cultural Activity Supervisor at Kaaban Youth Centre, Mohamed Radwan, encouraged the participants to preserve their Arab and Islamic culture, saying it was a “strong weapon” that could be used against the challenges of westernisation.

Radwan said if Arabs abandoned their culture they would be an easy prey to westernisation.

The children’s musical play “Cinderella And The Forest Birds” started to be presented at Qatar National Theatre last week as part of celebrations marking the choice of Doha to be the capital of Arab culture.

The first performance of the play was made in the presence of Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage Ali Mubarak Al Khalifa, the Iraqi author of the play Mansour Numan, and a host of parents and viewers.

The viewers strongly interacted with the play, which was turned by the Qatar Theatre Team into a dazzling play directed by the creative director Faleh Fayez.

Doha: Qatari ceramic artist Ahmed Al Haddad Gad is an artist with a unique and mature artistic experience who is always keen to develop his skills through continual research.

He was the first Qatari artist to make a personal exhibition, specialised in the ceramic art in Qatar. He used mud to make dialogues, understanding, and satisfy the senses by reflecting the feelings of the artist to viewers.

This mud gave Al Haddad the opportunity to create myriad shapes and forms in a recent exhibition that was held in Doha.

Doha: The Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage last week received an invitation from the Syrian Ministry of Culture to participate in the 26th session of the annual Damascus International Book Fair, slated for July 29, 2010.

A delegation, headed by Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al Kuwari, is due to start a dialogue on the reasons for selecting Doha to be the capital of Arab culture.

The Director of Libraries at the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage Abdullah Nasser Al Ansari said Qatar was chosen to be the guest of honour at the Syrian book fair thanks to selecting its capital to be the capital of Arab culture.

Doha: The Director of the Section for Youth Centres at the Qatari Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage Salman Al Malik inaugurated last week the first exhibition by the artist Abdullah Dasmal Al Kuwari at Waqif Art Centre.

The exhibition is one of many activities to celebrate Doha capital of Arab Culture for the year 2010.

This is Al Kuwari’s first exhibition. He is an old hand with theatre decorations. He had taken part in making stage decorations for more than 30 plays.

Al Kuwari’s paintings teem with artistic riches, which reflects positively on the fine art movement in Qatar.

Doha: The Cultural Cafe¢ Programme has become a pivotal event since its inception in 2002.

Eight years ago, the programme was introduced to monitor the changing features of Arab culture.

Programme host Muhammad Al Gohari managed to give the listeners of his programme deep insights into the conditions of Arab culture by interviewing a large number of Arab cultural figures who visited Doha to participate in celebrations marking the choice of the Qatari capital to be the capital of Arab culture for 2010.

I meet my friend Andy in a cafe. Over a coffee we chat about music, current events and the ups and downs of our working lives. We don’t spend a lot of time talking about our feelings or our relationship, or rehashing the past. It’s just not that kind of friendship. I prefer it that way, and I know Andy feels the same, because I’m paying him to feel the same. In fact, I’m paying him £40 an hour to feel the same.

Not so long ago, friendship belonged to a dwindling list of desirable outcomes – including happiness, wisdom and good weather – that money couldn’t buy. In a cold and indifferent world full of cold and indifferent strangers, a friend was something you had to make yourself. But no more: now you can purchase friendship at your convenience, by the hour. For a certain consideration, you can hire someone to go to a museum with you, or hang out at the gym, or keep you company while you shop. A stranger, you might say, is just a friend who hasn’t invoiced you yet.