Doha: An award-winning Lebanese artist has found Qatar as an avenue to showcase her artworks.
It is no doubt that Qatar’s rich art scene has been immensely growing for the past decade, and has cemented its cultural vision by creating a space to explore, build, and understand cultures from all around the world.
Faten Nabil Khalil arrived in Doha on November 11 and will stay until the finals of the World Cup.
She expressed astonishment by Qatar’s beauty in an interview with The Peninsula. “This is my first visit to the nation; Qatar is stunning; there are many new structures, and the art scene is blossoming.”
An artwork on display.
“Qataris appreciate arts and really understand the meaning of it. And Doha is fast becoming the hub for creatives like myself,” Khalil said.
Currently, she is stationed at the Mina District at the Old Doha Port where she is exhibiting her paintings. Khalil works with a variety of art mediums, including marble, acrylic oil, mixed media, and charcoal, to mention a few.
Additionally, some of her works include football themes as the nation is hosting the World Cup. She painted several pieces of art, one of which included the star players of this year’s football fiesta, including Messi, Ronaldo, and Neymar, to name some.
She added that her favourite artwork was a mixed-media canvas depicting a little girl with angel wings, butterflies all around it, and newspaper cutouts on the sides in both English and Arabic.
“This is about freedom, I’m talking about women’s rights. Each paper that I placed has a meaning and each element in the painting describes something. I made it an angel because a girl is sensitive and the needs her rights in place, needs to study, to be supported, and her life should be in a good way. The butterflies represent a woman as delicate.”
The acclaimed artist who has a gallery back in her home country Lebanon said her artworks talk about peace, freedom and human rights which are all vital to the society.
Khalil is not only an artist but also a fashion and interior designer. She received numerous accolades from around the world and has participated in various art exhibitions outside Lebanon, including Dubai, Kuwait, Egypt, USA, France, Canada, Philippines, and United Kingdom to name a few.
Her work “Peace and Security” was awarded first prize by the United Nations in 2019. The year 2020 was a quantum leap in her field, as her sculptural work ranked first place during the “ICCR Global Art Competition” organised by India, outperforming more than 8,000 participating work.
The same year, she participated in the “Art Laguna” competition located in Italy, as well as the “Luxembourg Art Prize” in Belgium.
