Dean of GU-Q, Dr. Safwan Masri and Victor Ehikhamenor, a Nigerian-American visual artist, during a session at ‘Global Energy Cultures’ forum yesterday.
Doha, Qatar: The intricate relationship between energy, cultures and pathways toward sustainable practices were discussed on the first day of Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q)’s forum on ‘Global Energy Cultures’ being held in collaboration with Msheireb Museums.
Over two days, scholars, artists, and practitioners engage in discussions highlighting how energy shapes everyday lives. Conversations, taking place at Msheireb Museums as part of GU-Q’s Hiwaraat series, aim to make academic research accessible to the public through a series of multidisciplinary talks and cultural events. “Energy is the essence of every aspect of life: science, technology, communications, economy. Its significance goes beyond the physical and extends to culture and society. It guides our understanding of the world and binds human communities while driving collaboration as well as conflict,” said Dean of GU-Q, Dr. Safwan Masri.
This edition of the GU-Q’s Hiwaraat series takes energy in all its representations as its main theme, proposing to reflect on the profound, manifold meanings of energy and our changing relationships with it as we strive for equity and sustainability, he added. The forum will conclude today with a unique music performance by Daniel Crawford, scientist and artist, the University of Alaska, and the Doha String Quartet, a member of the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra.
An Assistant Professor of History at GU-Q, Trish Kahle, who is part of an energy and humanity research initiative and involved in organising the forum, speaking to The Peninsula said, “Bringing ordinary people into the story of energy is centre of our own work. So we wanted to try expand our conversations and to reorient it to focus on the Global South. Because energy studies in general has really focused on North Atlantic region particularly the US, UK, Canada and Germany. We wanted to reorient that and see people who are impacted from a lot of energy are coming from every different region of the world. So we wanted to focus on that.”
A Senior at GU-Q, Zaina Khalil was a panellist at a session on ‘Youth Voices for Sustainable Futures’. She highlighted the necessity of youth involvement in environmental and climate moment.
The panel focused on how environmental issues impacted each of the panellists where they come from and what they can do as youth to change the impact around climate change.
Zaina, who is also the president of GU-Q Students for Justice in Palestine Club, emphasised the importance of bringing the environmental challenges in Palestine to light and said, “Environmental issues happening around Palestine directly as a result of the Israeli occupation” and added examples of access to water, bulldozing of olive trees.
Alongside insightful academic sessions, the forum showcases the unique creative expressions of energy themes through conversations with writers, filmmakers, and other international artists.
Victor Ehikhamenor, a prolific Nigerian-American visual artist and GU-Q’s first Artist-in-Residence, created an original artwork for the forum titled For Those Who Slept in the Dark with Identifiable Ghosts.
“We humans, whatever we touch, we exchange energy in them. From that perspective, what is the intersection between energy and culture?
“There’s one thing that ties all of us together is that energy is necessary, and it’s not something we can ignore, whether human energy or electrical energy or any other form,” he said.
