Sheikh Mohamed bin Faisal Al Thani, Member of the Board of Trustees of Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani Museum, during the first cultural dialogue.
Doha: Landed earlier this year at the Institut du monde arabe (IMA) in Paris, ‘The Majlis – Cultures in Dialogue’, a travelling cross-cultural exhibition organised at the initiative of the Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani Museum, features a collection of a unique assembly of artefacts reflecting the interaction of civilisations in the past while encouraging dialogue in the present.
The exhibition gathered its visitors during the month of February around interesting open cultural discussions that were held at the heart of the majlis, the main hub of the exhibition, and the space of hospitality and dialogue present in every home in the Arabian Gulf.
The exhibition, present at IMA until the March 10, 2019, invites visitors to sit in the majlis to listen to stories and engage in conversations on what they see and hear; transmitting the cultural dialogue by exchanging their impressions of the exhibition and learning about how much common ground exists between different cultures.
The open discussions that were held on the carefully selected topics of ‘The Power of Language in Shaping Culture’ and ‘Evolving Art to Identities’, focused on the advancement and preservation of culture through language and art, giving participants an opportunity to view the world with a different lens and explore other traditions, customs, beliefs, societies, and much more.
Commenting on the exhibition’s distinguished concept, Sheikh Mohamed bin Faisal Al Thani, Member of the board of trustees of Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani Museum, who attended the first cultural dialogue, said: “Since its launch, the Majlis – Cultures in Dialogue has aimed to create a respectful and meaningful dialogue among different cultures and communities and has reflected the growing importance of museums in voicing the rich history that cultures possess.’
“We are elated to expand our horizons and offer the public in Paris an open platform to discuss and debate on the various impactful subjects around art, language and culture in presence of respectful speakers. We believe the valuable feature of this exhibition in the form of discussions at the heart of the majlis resulted in a great exchange between the culture veterans and the visitors, and we are proud to act as a cultural bridge bringing people together under one roof”.
Through ‘The Power of Language in Shaping Culture’, ‘The Majlis – Cultures in Dialogue’ embraced the different thoughts surrounding the preservation of language as a means of preserving culture and discussed the way language and culture have developed over time and influenced each other.
This open discussion also invited visitors to share their experiences and perceptions about the power that a language has in the shaping of culture, while discovering the way the language is able to form a whole generation of thoughts and stories.The discussion was honoured by the participation of renowned speakers including Jacqueline Morand-Deviller, Associate Professor of Public Law and Political Science and Professor Emeritus at Pantheon-Sorbonne University, as well as Dr Nasser Al Hinzab, Legal Counsel of the State of Qatar to Unesco, who have shared their impactful opinions engaging the audience in an interactive dialogue.
