From left: Martin Hope, British Council Director; Miguel Blanco-Carrasco, Strategic Cultural Relations Director at QMA; Khalid bin Khalifa Al Thani, CEO of Qatargas; Rob Sherwin, Deputy Country Chair of Shell, and Richard Daly, CEO of Vodafone, at a press conference yesterday.
DOHA: Organisers of the Qatar UK 2013 yesterday announced the next series of events for the year-long celebration of partnership between the two countries through arts, culture, education, science and sport.
The latest events which are held in Katara include Arts and Disability Festival featuring dance, music, visual arts and film created by leading British deaf and disabled artists (March 15 to 30); Hey’ Ya: Arab Women in Sport exhibition by photographer Brigitte Lacombe and filmmaker Marian Lacombe (March 7 to June 16); an exhibition of work by British photographer, Martin Parr (March 18 to May 18), and performances by world-renowned Sadler’s Wells dance company (May 25 to 30).
Forthcoming UK events include the launch of an Arabic language and culture programme in the UK schools and Pearls (September 21, 2013 to January 2014), an exhibition at the Victoria & Albert (V&A) Museum in London, co-curated by QMA and the V&A.
Qatar UK 2013 is the second bilateral year of culture coordinated by Qatar Museums Authority (QMA).
H E Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chairperson of QMA, said: “We are proud of the success achieved with our international cultural exchanges, which began with Qatar Japan in 2012. This bilateral exchange with the UK gives us the opportunity to promote cultural dialogue and programmes that build bridges between our two countries. We are looking forward to a year of valuable cooperation and exchange, which will celebrate our cultures and friendship.”
The latest announcements follow last week’s visit to Qatar by the Prince of Wales, who is UK Patron of Qatar UK 2013, and his wife the Duchess of Cornwall. They visited a number of current Qatar UK 2013 events, including a preview of the upcoming Ferozkoh exhibition at the Museum of Islamic Art, the launch of the Qatar-UK Alumni Network and the Designed to Win exhibition at Katara.
Qatargas, Shell and Vodafone were announced as platinum sponsors of the event during a press conference yesterday.
Khalid bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chief Executive Officer, Qatargas, said: “Qatargas has a strong relationship with the UK as a major customer for us and our association with this initiative gives us an opportunity to build on that relationship and add value to the cultural, educational and arts side of it,” he said.
“With our long-standing partnerships with UK institutions that invest in research, education and youth development, we see ourselves as a partner for all that stands for innovation in Qatar. Qatar UK 2013 is the perfect opportunity to take stock of and celebrate our countries’ joint achievements and to look forward to an ever-more fruitful relationship,” said Rob Sherwin, General Manager of Corporate Affairs at Qatar Shell.
Richard Daly, CEO, Vodafone Qatar said: “Vodafone Qatar is a British company that is very proud to be operating successfully in Qatar through our partnership with Qatar Foundation. Our priority is to fully integrate into Qatari society, to support the Qatar National Vision 2030 by building a world class telecommunications infrastructure and to do whatever we can to support the excellent and growing relationships between UK and Qatar.”
The Peninsula
