Meet the artists setting the art scene ablaze in Qatar
In Partnership with Media City, Qatar
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00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:04 Whenever I have a very strong emotion,
00:06 that's when I'm creative the most.
00:09 I paint when I'm happy.
00:10 I paint when I'm sad.
00:11 I paint when I'm angry.
00:13 My paintings are my daily diary.
00:15 When I create audio art, I'm speaking my truth.
00:18 And I also feel like I am putting
00:20 across an important message, trying to get to people's heads
00:24 and make them think.
00:25 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:28 Having a studio here in the Fire Station
00:31 in the Artists in Residence program
00:33 allows you to focus, to be more creative,
00:36 to be surrounded by art and various artists
00:40 and great feedback.
00:43 There is a real creative vibe in the place.
00:46 I love being here.
00:47 I love art.
00:49 The Artists in Residence program is absolutely amazing.
00:51 I'm so grateful for being here.
00:54 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:58 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:01 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:05 The Artists in Residence program started
01:08 to have a home for emerging and mid-career artists
01:11 to develop their practice and to launch their careers
01:14 in the local art scene of Qatar.
01:17 It's a nine-month residency program.
01:19 Each year, we receive between 150 and 250 applications.
01:24 But only 15 artists are accepted for each residency term.
01:27 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:32 When I got accepted to the program, I was very excited.
01:35 I think it came in the perfect time for me
01:37 to do bigger-scale paintings, which I wanted to do.
01:42 I'm currently working on a series
01:45 called "30 Seconds" about figures and portraits
01:49 underwater.
01:51 My main inspiration for this series
01:54 was my trips to the beach and swimming and diving.
01:58 I started noticing how the figures' faces underwater
02:02 change and the colors change.
02:04 For me, art inspiration can be found anywhere,
02:07 from your surrounding and anything you
02:09 can see from observation.
02:12 As an architect and an artist who's using this building,
02:14 I can see how everything is well-thought.
02:16 [MUSIC PLAYING]
02:21 The Fire Station building was built in 1982.
02:25 And it served as the home for the Civil Defense Authority
02:28 until late 2012.
02:32 It was refurbished to have a contemporary touch,
02:36 adding facilities and to make it more useful
02:39 and to serve the project, which is the artists in residence.
02:41 [MUSIC PLAYING]
02:45 I come here every day.
02:46 I love being here.
02:46 I like to immerse myself in the visual culture of the place.
02:50 [MUSIC PLAYING]
02:52 My subject matter comes from things
02:54 I see in the street, road signs, chip packets,
02:58 land cruiser, things I see every day.
03:03 I've always been interested in mixed media,
03:05 the use of many different processes and materials
03:08 in one piece of work.
03:12 I like the layering in a work.
03:13 So I'd start off with any media I have.
03:16 It could be like oil paint, etching,
03:19 and then combine that with more modern media,
03:22 like spray paint, marker pen.
03:24 And I like the different effects when
03:26 you apply one to the other.
03:30 Thanks to the artists in residency,
03:32 I've been able to have free range
03:34 to explore anything I want.
03:36 Playing with material and processes,
03:39 I'm widening my visual vocabulary.
03:42 [MUSIC PLAYING]
03:45 It's helping me produce art that before I
03:47 didn't have the opportunity to.
03:50 Then got this fantastic shop downstairs.
03:52 Just yesterday, I ran out of spray paint.
03:54 So I went down there, and they're really helpful.
03:56 It's so handy having everything in the same building.
03:59 Here, I've got everything.
04:01 So it really allows me to concentrate just purely
04:03 on making my art.
04:06 They also get to network with other creatives,
04:09 including the curators and the international visiting
04:11 artists.
04:13 When these conversations are initiated,
04:15 new ideas come to play.
04:17 Their projects also develop.
04:20 Part of the artists in residence program
04:22 is an end of residency exhibition.
04:24 Each artist gets the opportunity to showcase their work
04:28 and what they've been doing during the residency.
04:32 This allows me, as an audio artist,
04:35 to kind of showcase audio art in Qatar,
04:37 which is not very common.
04:39 Audio art installations do tackle
04:41 multi-sensory experience with a focus on audio.
04:47 I'm working on sound audio installations.
04:49 It is common for us to make a wish when it rains,
04:54 and that wish will come true.
04:56 I'm bringing that to life under a concept
04:58 called under the umbrella.
05:02 You would stand underneath an umbrella
05:04 and listen to the various individuals in Qatar
05:08 making their wish under the sounds of the rain.
05:12 I want people to believe there is hope
05:16 by listening to other people's wishes,
05:19 that their wishes also can come true.
05:21 The inspiration of music and sound
05:23 has always been in my world.
05:25 And I look forward to exploring this arena further
05:28 to showcase different parts using the audio medium.
05:32 It is important for emerging artists
05:36 to have such a platform to launch their careers
05:39 and to showcase what they've been working on.
05:42 It gives them an opportunity to be seen
05:44 by other interested entities.
05:47 I hope that the participants can leave the program
05:50 with a lot of inspiration, with more experience
05:53 on how to execute and actually produce their ideas.
05:59 (upbeat music)
06:02 (upbeat music)
06:05 (upbeat music)
06:07 [music fades out]