eDucation: fostering Dialogue anD partnerships, from sustainability to fashion

We are often reminded that QAIC is not alone in its mission to promote and spread the art and culture of the Gulf region. Our partnerships enable us to host exhibitions and educational events, widening our community reach. Our enduring partnership with Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and VCUarts Qatar saw multiple visits over the year to campuses in both the U.S. and Qatar. This provided the opportunity to hear from Bouthayna Al Muftah and other VCU alum artists during Qatar Week in Richmond, VA in September 2022. Next year, we excitedly look forward to another joint exhibition effort when Research Labs moves from the VCUarts Richmond’s Anderson Gallery to QAIC’s headquarters.

Other arts and cultural organizations have also proven to be invaluable partners in our programming. QAIC partnered with prestigious museums such the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) in New York, N.Y., the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art, Freer and Sackler Galleries (NMAA) in Washington, D.C. and the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha (MIA), to celebrate Islamic art and culture in various ways. QAIC participated in a celebration of the 10th anniversary of the MET’s Department of Islamic Art galleries, and an Eid Al-Fitr festival at NMAA while Fashioning an Empire: Safavid Textiles from the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, was exhibited at NMAA. In collaboration with the Reed Society for the Sacred Arts, QAIC hosted both an exhibition and our first symposium celebrating the art of calligraphy, featuring master artisans from around the world. Our newly launched monthly Film Fridays were made possible by collaborations and partnerships with The Turkish Coffee Lady and the American Turkish Association, the Diplomacy and Fashion Project, and the Doha Film Institute, just to name a few. The films touched on topics including sustainability, fashion and diplomacy, various forms of culture across the Arab and Islamic world and featured young talent from Qatar and beyond. Our sustainability theme played a role in new partnerships as well.

This past spring, the QAIC team visited Common Good City Farm to learn about their mission and provided a contribution to their youth garden. As part of our QAIC Cares program, we supported the organization’s Youth Garden and LEAF (Learning for the Environment, Agriculture and Food) after-school program, which provides elementary-aged youth an opportunity to engage with gardening and foster community building. In the fall, QAIC hosted and supported the Mokha Institute, whose mission is to improve the quality of coffee produced in Yemen by empowering coffee-producing communities with production best practices, the best of industry training and education, and holistic livelihood support. Finally, in December, QAIC contributed a painting by Qatari artist Haifa AlKhuzai to Celebrating Women: An Art Exhibition organized by the Wilson Center, featuring artists from the around the world in support of the Global 16 Days Campaign against Gender-Based Violence.

Several programs initiated during the pandemic continued in 2022, including our Expressions Art & Culture Talks and our Museum Series. In our Expressions series, we spoke with two powerhouses in their respective creative fields: preeminent American calligrapher, Mohammed Zakariya, and acclaimed global fashion designer, Naeem Khan. Our Museum Series also returned, with a playful exploration of childrens’ museums in the U.S. and Qatar. Thanks to the easing of pandemic travel restrictions, QAIC was able to host two cultural enrichment trips to Qatar last year: the first for museum and arts leaders and the second for U.S. artists and creatives. The 16 delegates visited various artistic, historic, and culturally significant sites across Doha. Hands-on educational and culturally immersive experiences represent the heart of QAIC’s mission, encouraging cross-cultural exchange for the promotion of understanding and collaboration.

The culmination of our community engagement throughout the year, our second annual IMPART Summit: Congress for Creatives, brought together 16 artists, filmmakers, academics, community leaders, olfactory art experts, and sustainable fashion brands for a two-day program. The Summit featured the winners of our 2021 IMPART Artist Grant and 2022 Arab Film House Awards, an art party featuring spiritual artist Aida Murad, and panels on sustainability in food and coffee culture, and perfumery.

QAIC’s commitment to connecting communities and being a platform, for both established and young scholars, came to life in three issues of our digital publication, A2Q magazine. The goal of A2Q isn’t to restate what’s going on in our physical space; it acts as an immersive and multi-dimensional element of our programming. A2Q is used to expand on topics or themes in a way that complements our exhibitions and programs.

Dozens of authors shared their perspectives on the artistic, cultural, and social landscape of the U.S., Qatar, and the Gulf region. Most excitingly, A2Q was registered at the Library of Congress last summer. The library, which also hosted the Qatar National Day celebration in December, has one of the greatest library collections in the world, and A2Q’s inclusion means the magazine is now accessible to millions of people.

Authors featured in A2Q in 2022 included our three QAIC fellows — based in Washington, D.C. and Doha — who contributed fascinating articles on cultural understanding, the history of Qatar National Day, the evolution of mosque architecture, ConocoPhillips’ Global Water Sustainability Center in Doha, and much more. Fellows also had the opportunity to support the partnership between QAIC and the White House Historical Association on the first ever Arabic-language translation of White House tours, collaborate with the programs team to develop audience engagement surveys, and facilitate a panel at our IMPART Summit.

Our virtual and in-person programs, artist award opportunities, signature publications and cultural enrichment trips are all ways we aim to foster community, facilitate dialogue and support emerging and mid-career artists.