Since its inception in 2015, Qatar has been at the forefront of supporting the conference’s efforts to bring to the forefront the contributions of arts and culture to society.
The coveted Art for Tomorrow conference is back with a three-day event, kicking off in Venice on Wednesday and concluding on Friday.
This year’s theme “Imperfect Beauty” will gather the world’s leading museum directors, gallerists, artists and designers to discuss various topics.
Key discussion points on this year’s agenda include the arts as the ultimate mediator, the power of architecture, how artificial intelligence may revolutionise or disrupt creativity, as well as matters of sustainability and identity.
As part of the conference, an array of individuals from the Qatari creative community will be part of a panel discussion on Thursday titled: ‘A Home Anew – Art as a Refuge; The Contemporary Creative Scene in Qatar.’
Panellists will include Sara Al Shafai from the National Museum of Qatar, Othman Khunji, assistant director of recruitment and admissions at Virginia Commonwealth University – Qatar (VCU) and Majdulin Nasrallah, an interdisciplinary artist and VCU alumna.
They will be tasked with unpacking how the past has shaped the future for a variety of artists, both national and foreign, who call Qatar home.
Film exhibit
Also on Thursday, conference-goers will be treated to a tour of Qatar Museums’ ‘Your Ghosts are Mine’ film exhibition.
The exhibition was co-sponsored by the Doha Film Institute, the Mathaf Arab Museum of Modern Art and the future Art Mill Museum. The Art Capital Partners also collaborated with QM on this project.
It features ten galleries – guiding visitors through themes such as Arabian deserts being the cradles of civilisation and places of rebirth, ruins and relics of culture, women’s voices in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), the delineation of borders and boundaries between permissible and restricted areas, and the experience of exile.
The films include original documentaries, memoirs and animations.
According to the conference’s agenda, Badr Al Meer, Qatar Airways CEO, is set to deliver remarks during the tour.
Qatari support from the beginning
Last year’s conference was held in Florence and Solomeo, Italy, under the theme ‘Can Arts be a Way Out?’
During the conference, Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad Al Thani, Chairperson of Qatar Museums, was a panellist for the ‘Heritage for Tomorrow’ discussion. She outlined her country’s approach to cultural preservation and promotion.
“When it comes to Qatar, from the very beginning, our strategy for culture and museums was to develop our local and regional culture and celebrate our heritage: Islamic culture, Arab culture, and our Qatari identity,” the Qatari royal said.
Earlier in 2022, she was also part of the ‘Art of Diplomacy’ panel alongside Nicholas Yatromanolakis, former Greek Deputy Minister of Culture and Sports and Tristram Hunt, Director Victoria and Albert Museum.
Since the conference’s inception in 2015, Qatar has championed Art for Tomorrow’s efforts to offer a dynamic and in depth analysis of the arts’ impact on society, ranging from policy shifts to how promoting arts and culture can enhance democracy.
