Doha, Qatar: The ‘Out of the Box’ exhibition opened at the Souq Waqif Arts Center on Sunday, held in cooperation with Atiq Art Forum.
The exhibition comes as the culmination of an artistic workshop organised on Friday and Saturday by Atiq Art Forum with the participation of 21 artists. In their work, artists embodied Qatar’s heritage as well as Souq Waqif in the past in various artistic forms that are out of the norm. In a statement to Qatar News Agency, artist Mohammed Al Atiq explained that the theme of the forum was to think outside the box yet not far from heritage by recording it in a new contemporary way that has more thought than just drawing skills.
The first forum was in Al Shamal area while the second was done in collaboration with Souq Waqif Arts Center which provided the artists with enough space that contributed positively to producing artistic works and gave them opportunities for creativity since the center is a place enriched with art as well as art lovers, Al Atiq said.
He said the two-day workshop included a seminar on conceptual thinking and thinking outside the box which contributed to the participants’ ideas. Al Atiq’s participation in the exhibition includes a unique artwork. While preparing his idea, he found his painting broken and decided to work on the back side of it. The damaged part was retouched with a colourful traditional dress of a Qatari woman that he purchased from Souq Waqif.Artist Abdullah Al Mutawa told QNA that this marks his second participation and that he wanted to present work different from what his fellow participants presented. He found his inspiration in the sea and chose a fishing trap for his work. He placed two traps on top of each other, giving an hourglass shape that reflects the importance of time for divers and fishermen as they used to spend a large part of the year in the sea fishing for pearls.
