Meet the artists setting the art scene ablaze in Qatar

euronews (in English)

In Partnership with Media City, Qatar

Transcript

00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:04 Whenever I have a very strong emotion,

00:06 that's when I'm creative the most.

00:09 I paint when I'm happy.

00:10 I paint when I'm sad.

00:11 I paint when I'm angry.

00:13 My paintings are my daily diary.

00:15 When I create audio art, I'm speaking my truth.

00:18 And I also feel like I am putting

00:20 across an important message, trying to get to people's heads

00:24 and make them think.

00:25 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:28 Having a studio here in the Fire Station

00:31 in the Artists in Residence program

00:33 allows you to focus, to be more creative,

00:36 to be surrounded by art and various artists

00:40 and great feedback.

00:43 There is a real creative vibe in the place.

00:46 I love being here.

00:47 I love art.

00:49 The Artists in Residence program is absolutely amazing.

00:51 I'm so grateful for being here.

00:54 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:58 [MUSIC PLAYING]

01:01 [MUSIC PLAYING]

01:05 The Artists in Residence program started

01:08 to have a home for emerging and mid-career artists

01:11 to develop their practice and to launch their careers

01:14 in the local art scene of Qatar.

01:17 It's a nine-month residency program.

01:19 Each year, we receive between 150 and 250 applications.

01:24 But only 15 artists are accepted for each residency term.

01:27 [MUSIC PLAYING]

01:32 When I got accepted to the program, I was very excited.

01:35 I think it came in the perfect time for me

01:37 to do bigger-scale paintings, which I wanted to do.

01:42 I'm currently working on a series

01:45 called "30 Seconds" about figures and portraits

01:49 underwater.

01:51 My main inspiration for this series

01:54 was my trips to the beach and swimming and diving.

01:58 I started noticing how the figures' faces underwater

02:02 change and the colors change.

02:04 For me, art inspiration can be found anywhere,

02:07 from your surrounding and anything you

02:09 can see from observation.

02:12 As an architect and an artist who's using this building,

02:14 I can see how everything is well-thought.

02:16 [MUSIC PLAYING]

02:21 The Fire Station building was built in 1982.

02:25 And it served as the home for the Civil Defense Authority

02:28 until late 2012.

02:32 It was refurbished to have a contemporary touch,

02:36 adding facilities and to make it more useful

02:39 and to serve the project, which is the artists in residence.

02:41 [MUSIC PLAYING]

02:45 I come here every day.

02:46 I love being here.

02:46 I like to immerse myself in the visual culture of the place.

02:50 [MUSIC PLAYING]

02:52 My subject matter comes from things

02:54 I see in the street, road signs, chip packets,

02:58 land cruiser, things I see every day.

03:03 I've always been interested in mixed media,

03:05 the use of many different processes and materials

03:08 in one piece of work.

03:12 I like the layering in a work.

03:13 So I'd start off with any media I have.

03:16 It could be like oil paint, etching,

03:19 and then combine that with more modern media,

03:22 like spray paint, marker pen.

03:24 And I like the different effects when

03:26 you apply one to the other.

03:30 Thanks to the artists in residency,

03:32 I've been able to have free range

03:34 to explore anything I want.

03:36 Playing with material and processes,

03:39 I'm widening my visual vocabulary.

03:42 [MUSIC PLAYING]

03:45 It's helping me produce art that before I

03:47 didn't have the opportunity to.

03:50 Then got this fantastic shop downstairs.

03:52 Just yesterday, I ran out of spray paint.

03:54 So I went down there, and they're really helpful.

03:56 It's so handy having everything in the same building.

03:59 Here, I've got everything.

04:01 So it really allows me to concentrate just purely

04:03 on making my art.

04:06 They also get to network with other creatives,

04:09 including the curators and the international visiting

04:11 artists.

04:13 When these conversations are initiated,

04:15 new ideas come to play.

04:17 Their projects also develop.

04:20 Part of the artists in residence program

04:22 is an end of residency exhibition.

04:24 Each artist gets the opportunity to showcase their work

04:28 and what they've been doing during the residency.

04:32 This allows me, as an audio artist,

04:35 to kind of showcase audio art in Qatar,

04:37 which is not very common.

04:39 Audio art installations do tackle

04:41 multi-sensory experience with a focus on audio.

04:47 I'm working on sound audio installations.

04:49 It is common for us to make a wish when it rains,

04:54 and that wish will come true.

04:56 I'm bringing that to life under a concept

04:58 called under the umbrella.

05:02 You would stand underneath an umbrella

05:04 and listen to the various individuals in Qatar

05:08 making their wish under the sounds of the rain.

05:12 I want people to believe there is hope

05:16 by listening to other people's wishes,

05:19 that their wishes also can come true.

05:21 The inspiration of music and sound

05:23 has always been in my world.

05:25 And I look forward to exploring this arena further

05:28 to showcase different parts using the audio medium.

05:32 It is important for emerging artists

05:36 to have such a platform to launch their careers

05:39 and to showcase what they've been working on.

05:42 It gives them an opportunity to be seen

05:44 by other interested entities.

05:47 I hope that the participants can leave the program

05:50 with a lot of inspiration, with more experience

05:53 on how to execute and actually produce their ideas.

05:59 (upbeat music)

06:02 (upbeat music)

06:05 (upbeat music)

06:07 [music fades out]

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