Qatar-France Year of Culture begins on Friday

The Qatar-France 2020 Year of Culture will witness its grand launch this Friday with a concert featuring Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra playing a compelling programme of French classics under the baton of French conductor Marc Piollet, one of the most exciting and versatile conductors of his generation. 

On the eve of the opening ceremony will be the launch of the 30th Doha International Book Fair where France will have a pavilion as this year’s guest of honour.

The announcement was made during a press conference held yesterday by Qatar Museums and French Embassy at the National Museum of Qatar which unveiled a plethora of cultural and artistic events to be organised in both countries in the next 12 months.

Each year since 2012, Qatar Museums has collaborated with a different nation to produce a specially curated Year of Culture, promoting mutual understanding across borders while providing opportunities for the people of each nation to encounter and appreciate one another’s creativity. 

In this ninth annual programme, the Qatar-France 2020 Year of Culture builds on strong, substantial, already existing ties between the two nations to produce an exciting and diverse programme of exhibitions, festivals, bilateral exchanges, and events.

Commenting on the Years of Culture initiative, H E Salah bin Ghanem Al Ali, Minister of Culture and Sports, said, “Although Qatar is always reaching out to people around the world and welcoming the world to Qatar, it is especially gratifying to us to enjoy the sustained, focused activity made possible by our Year of Culture.”

“We are grateful to our partners in both countries for their enthusiastic cooperation in putting together the truly exceptional programme that we now announce for Qatar-France 2020. We look forward to showing the best of Qatar in France, the best of France in Qatar, and inviting the people of both nations to share their thoughts and experiences and deepen their mutual connections,” the Minister added.

Franck Gellet, Ambassador of France  to Qatar, said: “The Qatar-France 2020 Year of Culture will continue the advances in mutual understanding, friendship and support that our nations are so proud to have achieved. In the past year alone, we exchanged visits of high-level delegations and signed seven important agreements in defence, security, higher education and culture. The dynamic bilateral trade between our nations is flourishing, having increased only recently by a remarkable 33 percent for the year, and the Institut Français du Qatar has just celebrated its 30th anniversary.”

The ambassador described the Year’s programme as “very rich and high in quality” and will delve into the arts in all their forms as well as scientific and university cooperation and the debate of ideas.

“By encompassing visual arts, music, cinema, sport, literature, and scholarly and scientific exchanges, Qatar-France 2020 will broaden these existing relationships among our people while elevating them to an even higher level,” Gellet stressed.

Announcing the line-up of events for the Year, Aisha Al Attiya, Head of Years of Culture at Qatar Museums, said the French cultural events in Doha includes outstanding exhibitions, among which will be a show titled Picasso’s Studios which will see a huge collection of Pablo Picasso’s works showcased at Fire Station Garage Gallery. 

“Dozens of works by Pablo Picasso, on exceptional loan from the Musée National Picasso in Paris, will bring the public imaginatively into the spaces where this great 20th century artist achieved his artistic breakthroughs,” she said, adding Mathaf will also open an exhibition by Yto Barrada.

Al Attiya said in February 2020, the Palais de Tokyo will host a major contemporary art exhibition, titled Our world is Burning, co-curated and co-produced by the contemporary art center and Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art and will feature works by artists from Qatar and the Gulf region. 

Other events to be hosted in France include screenings of works from the Doha Film Institute at the Cannes International Film Festival and the Short Film Festival in Clermont-Ferrand, and the presentation of Qatar Culture Week in October 2020 at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris. 

 This fall, the temporary exhibition gallery of the National Museum of Qatar will host an exhibition curated by the renowned French art historian Catherine Grenier on the subject of Paris as a whirlwind of innovation in modern art, and Qatar Museums’ Gallery Al Riwaq will showcase works by the acclaimed contemporary French artist Philippe Parreno, she added.

Qatar-France 2020 Year of Culture, sponsored by Qatar Airways, was planned in collaboration with leading institutions in Qatar and France, including the Embassy of Qatar in France, the Embassy of France in Qatar, Qatar’s Ministry of Culture and Sport, Qatar Foundation, The National Tourism Council, Doha Film Institute, Qatar National Library, Katara, Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy and Qatar Football Association. Further exhibitions, programmes, and events will be announced in the coming weeks and months. To view the schedule and see updates, the public is invited to visit the website: [http://www.yearsofculture.qa/].
 

As seen on Peninsula Qatar  Image Credits Peninsula Qatar