Participants during an activity of QIAF at Corniche.
Qatar International Arts Festival (QIAF) finds innovative ways and solutions for showcasing art and welcoming the artists from around the globe after the pandemic.
Art inspires us to visit the concept of unity, vibrancy and see ourselves as a part of a bigger universe. Art, a simple three-lettered word, has a broad definition.
From photography, music, dance to painting, everything is a genre of art. Creating something without words, something that speaks to people, art is a language of its own. We see art everyday but how we see it is different.
This was well experienced in the most awaited and vibrant festival happened in Doha, Qatar – QIAF. This mega event was organised by MAPS International in collaboration with Katara Cultural Village.
QIAF was started in 2018 by Rashmi Aggarwal, founder and president of MAPS International. This year marked its 3rd edition where over 300 artists from 65 different countries took part in this mega event, showcasing their creativity.
It is said that, ‘art lies at the heart of Doha. The city is becoming a place where a plethora of art related activities take place every year. QIAF provides a good platform to the artists from all over the world to showcase their work. The festival aims to introduce artists and promote their work to collectors, art investors and potential buyers.
QIAF 2021 was the bouquet of eight diverse artistic events and activities like cultural tour, art exhibition, live painting symposium, artistic fashion show, master classes, and much more.
The mega event was inaugurated by General Manager of Katara Professor Dr. Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti. Adding beauty to the opening ceremony and making it a huge success, Princess Dr. Moradeun Ogunlana USA–Nigeria, attended the event along with many VIPs including ambassadors, diplomats and representatives from Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, France, Japan, Kenya, North Macedonia, Mexico, Philippines, Indonesia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Netherlands, Republic of Algeria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Singapore, Tanzania, Ghana, Uruguay, Germany, Haiti, Paraguay, India, Ukraine, El Salvador, Argentina, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, Spain, Dominican Republic, and Ghana.
CEO of Doha Bank Dr. Raghavan Seetharaman, PN Babu Rajan – President of Indian Cultural Centre with his team, under the aegis of the embassy of India in Qatar, all directors, and many more distinguished guests and dignitaries attended. “It was a beautiful and very elegant inaugural. It’s true that successful events don’t become that way overnight, it is the hard work and hustles over time.”
Rashmi Aggarwal said: “This event is the outcome of a very dedicated team, which includes all Katara Team and participating artists. I believe, everything is possible if you have a clear vision, strong planning and hardworking team.”
Art connects people and brings them together on one platform. This was well seen and experienced in the beautifully organised five-day-long QIAF in the beautiful Katara Cultural Village, which is a hub of creativity, art and culture.
The event was followed by a cultural tour. Culture is the art elevated to a set of beliefs and exposure to the arts and culture is enormously valuable. This was brilliantly experienced by the artists from all around the globe during the cultural tour of Doha organized by QIAF. After the pandemic this was a wonderful way of meeting so many creative people on one platform. The whole day long tour, was enjoyed by all artists around the city’s most iconic places like, National Museum of Qatar, Football Stadium, Al Shaqb and also the most colorful market Souq Al Waqif.
Day three was the most informative day of the festival. Started with seven master-classes by our esteemed guests, the masters were Abdulla Yousef Al Mulla from Qatar; Linnea Kathyrn Pergola from USA; Masih Ahmad Ahmadi and Masoumeh Jahanbin Shalkouhi from Iran; Majd Mohammed Ramadan from Lebanon and Ionnis Kaiserlis from Greece. The three hours of masterclasses were very interesting and informative.
The evening of the third day at QIAF 2021 was filled with cultural folkloric music performances. MAPS International in collaboration with Katara organised a grand multicultural music evening to capture the festive mood of the event. Opening performance of Sufi Ney Flute was done by Neyzen Sinan Soyler from Turkey, followed by Indian culural and folk performances.
The closing ceremony of the mega event took place on the fifth day of the event at Katara. The event was hosted by Yashvii Aggarwal, daughter of Rashmi Aggarwal.
