Qatar Daily News

HH the Deputy Emir and Heir Apparent Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani yesterday released the Mus’haf Qatar, the country’s first edition of the Holy Qur’an.

The special edition, which was set in exquisite calligraphy and made into templates for large-scale printing, had been in the making for nearly two decades.

The project cost totalled QR30mn. Read the rest of this entry »

Qatar’s initiatives in promoting Arab culture and tradition get praise from various Ministers of Arab countries that are here in Doha for participating in the Doha cultural event under the theme ”Arab Culture as a Homeland and Doha as a Capital”.

Dr Riyad Nassan Aha, Minister of Culture, Syria expressed his gratitude for providing a prominent role to his country in the “Doha Capital ofArab Culture 2010″.

Aha said, “I thank Qatar for selecting my country to host the first week’s celebrations. Qatar is known across the world for its initiatives in promoting Arab Culture.”
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Qatar Duty Free has launched its latest inflight magazine offering all Qatar Airways passengers an even greater choice of products than ever before.

The 124-page Shopping Extravaganza Magazine is packed full of new and best-selling products including fragrances for men and women, designer make-up, jewelry and electronic gadgets.

Qatar Airways passengers will be spoilt for choice when they browse through the new glossy magazine which contains not only 107 brand new products but also 56 of the best-selling products of all time.

In addition to being the first airline in the world to stock fragrances from leading designer, Narciso Rodriguez, onboard at duty free prices, Qatar Airways is also the only airline in the Middle East to be able to offer its passenger the chance to purchase the GARMIN Satellite Navigation system for Europe and North America as well as a whole range of Jo Malone products.
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With more than 80 events revealed so far, Qatar is all set for a year long carnival marking Doha as the Capital of Arab Culture 2010. Apart from a celebration of the culture and traditions of Qatar, Arab world and Islam, the year 2010 will witness a cultural jamboree of different countries like Syria, India, Morocco among the others, showing how Qatar has become a home to thousands of people from round the world.
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Movie star Robert de Niro presented the top Audience Awards at the first Doha Tribeca film festival to a Palestinian film and to a documentary made in Qatar.

The 50,000-dollar award for best film went on Sunday night to “Team Qatar” a documentary directed by Britain’s Liz Mermin that tells the story of a group of high school students taking part in an international debate.

“Pomegranates and Myrrh” directed by Palestinian director Najwa Najjar was also awarded 50,000 dollars after being chosen by the audience as the best Arab movie in the festival, co-organised by New York’s Tribeca festival.
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Qatar’s new Islamic art museum, designed by famous American architect I.M. Pei, is the latest effort by this tiny, oil-rich nation to compete with rival Gulf countries for international attention and investment.

Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates also have spent billions during the last decade to transform themselves from small desert towns to sprawling international cities. Much of the initial investment was in business, entertainment and sports, but there has also been a push toward promoting arts and culture.

Qatar’s Museum of Islamic Art is the first of ambitious cultural project in the Gulf to be realized. The five-story stone building sits atop an artificial island like an imposing fortress half a mile off the Qatari capital of Doha.

Museum representatives said Pei’s design was inspired by Islamic architectural history, especially the 9th century mosque of Ahmed ibn Tulun in the Egyptian capital of Cairo. The Pei museum opened Dec. 1.

“The Museum of Islamic Art will be the starting place for the Qatari cultural experience,” Abdulla al-Najjar, head of the Qatar Museums Authority, said in a statement.
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The first celebrity concert of the 2009 Concert Series presented by the Qatar Foundation, in association with Qatar Shell, will commence on February 19 at the Qatar Academy Auditorium at 7 pm.

International opera star Sir Willard White, who will be visiting Doha for the second time, will be the featured guest artist of the night. He will be accompanied by pianist Steve Griffiths, Qatar Foundation Concert Series organiser. The night before the start of the Concert Series, White will perform with the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra at the Aspire Hall, Aspire Ladies Zone. “Sir Willard’s return visit will, I’m sure, be a cause for celebration among music lovers in Doha. His charismatic stage presence, coupled with his phenomenally rich bass-baritone voice, will undoubtedly ensure a special musical experience to remember for all who attend his performance here,” said Griffiths.

A number of operatic music, notably by Mozart and Tchaikovsky, will be featured during the night’s presentation, set alongside a selection of traditional American folk songs by Aaron Copland and extracts from musical theatre shows by Oscar Hammerstein and Loesser.

A selection of songs from the folk opera Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin will also be presented. “Sir Willard’s personal interpretation of the role of Porgy has been recognised as one of his most notable achievements throughout his eminent stage and recording career. The varied and entertaining programme will indeed reach out to an audience of varying types and tastes, especially as each item will be delivered not just with consummate vocal perfection but also a sense of theatrical panache,” said Griffiths.

The Peninsula

Celebrated Qatari artist Faraj Daham Al Suwaidi exhibited his works at the Waqif Art Centre yesterday.

An active member of the Qatari Fine Arts Society, Al Suwaidi said he was proud of his new work Coordinates, a series of drawing-collage on paper, mixed-media on canvas, mixed media on panel and sculptures which describe the location of points in a plane, but, as the artist said, also means a point in time in a person’s life when a man walks with his son or play with him on his computer, or when a person would read a beautiful story and the person can relate well with the characters in it.

“I call the time spent with others or when you can be productive elsewhere, I call them coordinates.” “The title Coordinates comes to reassert my previous work titles Observations, Dialogue, Inactive Images, Image Movement” titles that act as my artistic motivation and as a visual norm that organises my artistic experience,” said Al Suwaidi.
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Qatar Islamic Art museum

MUSEUM OF ISLAMIC ART

Located on the Corniche, which surrounds Doha Harbor in Qatar, about 15 minutes from Doha International Airport.

Closed Tuesdays. Open Fridays 2 p.m.-8 p.m. and other days 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

Web Site: www.mia.org.qa.

Qatar’s new Islamic art museum, designed by the famous American architect I.M. Pei, is the latest effort by this tiny oil-rich nation to compete with rival Gulf countries for international attention and investment.

Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates have also spent billions over the last decade to transform themselves from small desert towns to sprawling international cities. Much of the initial investment was in business, entertainment and sports, but there also has been a push toward promoting arts and culture.

Abu Dhabi will soon be home to satellites of New York City’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Paris’ Louvre Museum. Dubai is planning to develop a local equivalent of New York City’s famous Museum Mile, a stretch of Fifth Avenue that includes the original Guggenheim Museum building with its famous spiral shape, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

But Qatar’s Museum of Islamic Art is the first of these ambitious cultural projects in the Gulf to be realized. The five-story, stone building sits atop an artificial island like an imposing fortress half a mile off the Qatari capital of Doha.
Read the rest of this entry »