Doha, March 13 (QNA) – Under the patronage of Qatar Museums Chairperson, HE Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad Al-Thani, the second annual edition of The New York Times “Art for Tomorrow” Conference was officially opened in Doha Sunday under the theme of “Technology, Creativity and the City”.
The four-day conference began with a panel discussion on the importance of culture in strategies for local, national and international development. The members of the panel included HE Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad Al-Thani, the Chairperson of Qatar Museums; Charles Landry, the author of ‘The Creative City: A Toolkit for Urban Innovators’; and Francesco Bandarin, the Assistant Director General for Culture at UNESCO. The discussion was moderated by columnist Roger Cohen from The New York Times.
Speaking in the first panel discussion, HE Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad Al-Thani said: “As a nation that’s growing very quickly, embracing global culture and joining in the narrative of global art, I think it’s quite obvious for us to bring in contemporary artists. We’re trying to bring contemporary artists here, to inspire young artists to see what’s happening around the world, and to be inspired. That’s what we’ve tried to do and will continue to do, with complete respect to our tradition.” “The desert is very much part of our identity, and when we invited Richard Serra to commission him on a sculpture, we said to him we would like you to do something in the desert where we preserve it but, at the same time, create a public space for people to experience art in a very remote and unexpected space; something they would experience only here, and not something you would experience in New York, or London, or elsewhere.” HE Shaikha Al Mayassa said commenting on the latest additions to public art across Qatar.
