Qatar Museums, along with AlBahie Auction House and Qatar Red Crescent Society, hosted an Art for Peace charity auction at the Museum of Islamic Art to support Palestinians amid Israel’s onslaught.
Qatar Museums (QM), in collaboration with AlBahie Auction House and the Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS), held an event to support Palestinians amid Israel’s indiscriminate war.
Held under the patronage of Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad Al Thani, QM’s chairperson, the event took place on Sunday at Qatar’s Museum of Islamic Art (MIA), which transformed into an auction house for the ‘Art for Peace’ charity auction.
The local community came out in full force to support the event. Among the attendees were Mohammed Al Rumaihi, the CEO of QM, Shaika Al Nassr, MIA’s director, Ashraf Abu Issa, chairman of AbuIssa Holding and Fahad Badar, a Qatari mountaineer.
Qatar’s vibrant art community also supported the event, with 63 artists donating their work for this noble cause, including Fatima Al Khalaf, Mehdi Nabavi, Reena Badrinath and Aparna Vijayakumar.
Vijayakumar’s ‘Unbroken Bond’ piece was sold at the auction.
“The portrait depicts the timeless and unbreakable connection between a mother and her son in the midst of the challenging environment,” she told Doha News.
The latest Gaza humanitarian response update from the United Nations’ humanitarian affairs highlights the strife being faced by Palestinians as Israel’s indiscriminate war continues.
The update, which was published on Friday, said that fuel shortages continue to curtail the efforts of medical personnel in hospitals, leaving 540,000 women and girls of reproductive age at a worrying risk due to lack of necessary medical services available.
Between March and April, at least 55 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition were forced into hospitalisation, the report added.
“As an artist, I wanted to contribute whatever I could for the people of Gaza,” Vijayakumar added.
“We hear every day about the immense loss of life in Gaza and it affects all of us. I join them in their loss,” she concluded.
The latest figures from the Gaza Health Ministry report that since October 7, at least 35,034 people have been killed and 78,755 left wounded by Israeli attacks on Gaza.
QM’s ‘Art for Peace’ initiative started on January 19 as a weekly fundraising event. The goal was to establish a connection between the community, art and bolster local humanitarian efforts for the plight of Palestinians.
The weekly campaign ran across the various institutions with QM’s portfolio, such as MIA, Mathaf and the Doha Fire Station – among others.
At the Fire Station, the original pieces from the-then artists in residence were put for sale with a pledge of 25% of their profits being given to charity. Restaurants collaborating with QM on this charitable drive also pledged 15% to 25% of their profit to support the cause.
“This collaboration is part of the partnership between Qatar Red Crescent and Qatar Museums. It embodies a spirit of inter-sector understanding, inspired by Qatar’s position of solidarity with the Palestinian people and belief in their right to security and dignity,” said Faisal Mohamed Al Emadi, the acting secretary general of the QRCS, upon the launch of the initiative.
