QNL lines up artistic, cultural events for October

Qatar National Library's (QNL) October calendar is filled with events catering to all age groups, with a focus on art, music, science and design.

The library's activities during the month also focus on photography, scientific research, Islamic culture and creative design.

According to QNL's statement, on Oct 1 the library will launch its first online GIF contest for young adults aged 12 to 18. It will encourage participants to develop creative GIF's representing the library's digitised distinctive collections.

The library will launch its first Virtual Scientific Research Forum for young adults, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education and the Qatar National Research Fund.

The forum will introduce middle school and high school students to Qatar's national priorities for scientific research and help them learn skills in research.

Students will also get the opportunity to attend workshops about scientific research and showcase their science-related projects to the audience.

As part of the "Doha Capital of Culture in the Islamic World" celebration, the library will conduct an event that will shed light on the diversity and breadth of jurisprudence schools in Qatar and highlight the most important jurisprudence books written by Qatari scholars and expatriates in Qatar.

Also as part of "Doha Capital of Culture in the Islamic World" celebrations, the library will host a session to highlight the efforts of the founder of Qatar, Sheikh Jassim bin Mohamed, in printing and publishing religious books to spread knowledge about Islamic culture.

The Mosaic Ensemble, made up of members from the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra, will be in the library on October 6 for a concert of classical Egyptian and Qatari songs. Nearly 20 musicians will perform a selection of works featuring violin, cello, double bass, oboe and percussion.

This is the first live concert to be hosted in the library's building since Covid-19.

On October 10, participants will learn about the role of children's mental health in society during a session that explores some of the factors that may influence a child's behaviour, barriers to treatment, how mental or behavioural disorders impact children, and a parent's role in providing understanding and support.

On October 13, Francisco Marmolejo will talk about the newly developed Higher Education Strategy in Qatar. Marmolejo is president of Higher Education at Qatar Foundation (QF), where he leads support and co-ordination activities for the unique ecosystem of eight prestigious universities that offer more than 70 undergraduate and graduate programmes to students from 60 countries at QF's Education City, the largest campus of its kind globally, and based in Doha.

The library is also ready to inspire visitors to start their sustainability journey in Qatar through a session presented by Doha Environmental Actions Project on October 16.

Participants will learn about marine life, the impact of plastic pollution in Qatar and a few simple solutions they can implement to protect marine life.

As part of the ongoing exhibition "Between Science and Art: Early Photography in the Middle East," which opened on September 20, the library will be hosting a practical workshop by photographer Khalifa al-Obaidli, who is also director of the Tasweer Photo Festival, on October 22-23 .

He will guide attendees through building their own camera out of a soft drink can and taking pictures reminiscent of the spirit of early photography in the 18th century. Participants will learn about the history of photography, the theory behind primitive cameras and how they compare to modern cameras, and how to take old-fashioned style photos without resorting to editing programmes.

The library will also host an introductory session to its Open Access Author Fund on October 25, which will outline ways in which authors in Qatar can use the fund to publish open access articles. The session will also briefly outline the concept of open access and how it can benefit research in Qatar.

On October 26, the library will host a panel discussion with international literacy changemakers to explore ways to combat misinformation, fake news and bias.

As seen on GulfTimes  Image Credits GulfTimes