Doha: Qatar Museums’ (QM) ‘Minimalism: A Way of Thinking Beyond Aesthetics’ was recently opened to the public at the Fire Station: Artist in Residence, a world-class residency programme dedicated to nurturing, energising and promoting Qatar’s artistic and creative community.
The open studio, which runs from January 22 to 24, is led by visiting artist Safaa Erruas, a Tetouan-born Moroccan artist who joined the visiting artist residency on November 1, 2024, until January 31, 2025. The event is in conjunction with Years of Culture, the initiative launched in 2012 to bring diverse communities together through mutual understanding and shared experiences; it forms part of legacy programming for the Qatar-Morocco 2024 Year of Culture.
The thought-provoking event offers attendees a unique opportunity to gain first-hand insights into Erruas’ artistic philosophy, and it delves into minimalism, not only as an artistic approach but also as a meaningful lens through which to engage with broader social and philosophical ideas. Artist Safaa Erruas is presenting this concept as a profound framework intertwining both perspectives.
The opening day witnessed a panel discussion moderated by Dr. Bahaaeldin Abudaya, senior curator at Fire Station, with the participation of various artists who are parts of the Artist in Residence programme as well as many arts enthusiasts.
Speaking to The Peninsula, Erruas said the work was inspired by the difficulty displaced people experience in moving from one place to another in the world.
“This work is very important to me, particularly because I’m also coming from a border city in North Morocco, because my city, Tetouan, is a Mediterranean town that lies between Morocco and Spain, i.e., between Africa and Europe. And for me, the Mediterranean Sea is like a wall, like a border and everything changed those last years, particularly after the COVID crisis, because they closed this border.
“And I witnessed the way that everything changed in my society, because lots of things were connected to this city, to the Spanish city, economically, socially, even psychologically. So, that’s why I’m using these figures of the map, of the geographies, territories, in a very fragile way, and also with all the barbed wire structures, as something that’s interim to the flight of the birds, those structures, to make reference to this uncomfortable way to move all around the world,” she said.
Erruas added that everything about the work is shaped or drawn from geographies.
