Artworks by VCUarts Qatar on Display at Majaz

September 25, 2022
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Vcuq Majaz 15th Sept 39

Through paintings, drawings, new media, and installations, VCUarts Qatar’s community of artists and designers share their personal experiences and their connections with Qatar

Artworks by faculty, staff, and alumni from VCUarts Qatar are part of ‘Majaz: Contemporary Art Qatar’, an exhibition that is currently running at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, until February 25, 2023.

Othman Khunji, Michael Perrone, Alaa Batta, Fatima Mohammed, Hadeer Omar, Jesse Payne, Majdulin Nasrallah, Maryam Al Homaid, Nourbanu Hijazi, and Ryan Browning from VCUarts Qatar are the artists who contributed to the exhibition that includes paintings, drawings, prints, sculpture, new media, and installations.

Two VCUarts Qatar alumnae who currently work at Qatar Museums, Al Jazi Khalid Al Thani and Fatima Al Zaini were part of the team organizing the exhibition.

‘Majaz: Contemporary Art Qatar’ marks five years of the Artist in Residence program at the Fire Station in Doha. The exhibition features the works of numerous Artists in Residence who took part in the program between 2015 and 2021.

According to the website of Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, “In this exhibition, artists take the role of the narrator, recalling both shared and personal experiences to communicate ideas fundamental to the modern world. (…) They are also connected by the artists’ collective experience of living in Qatar and being part of its unique community. (…) Each piece acts as a metaphor (majaz) for the artist’s journey and evolving artistic practice, capturing a moment or an idea that represents their experience in the past years.”

The exhibition’s official opening on Thursday, September 15, was attended by Qatar Museums Chairperson HE Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.

The exhibition forms part of Qatar Creates, showcasing the works of renowned artists from across the region. The works on display reflect the creative power and heritage of the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia (MENASA) region in celebration of the Qatar – MENASA Year of Culture 2022.

Majaz is curated by Saida Al Khulaifi, Acting Head of Residency Programmes at the Fire Station, and Amal Zeyad Ali.

Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, or Mathaf, as it is popularly known, is part of Qatar Museums, led by H.E. Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, and houses a unique world-class collection of modern and contemporary art from the Arab world and its cultural and historical connections. Mathaf is situated in a renovated former school building in QF’s Education City.

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