Mohammed Al Atiq (fifth left), General Manager of Regency Art, and Ayman Lotfy (right), General Manager, Wyndham Grand Regency, with artists of Al Asmakh Art Atelier during a press conference at Wyndham Grand Regency Doha yesterday. Kammutty V P
DOHA: A new art museum to be launched in three years is set to be home to a huge collection of artworks produced from art ateliers organised as a long-term programme by Regency Art, a subsidiary of Regency Group.
Planned to be built in Al Shamal area, the museum will contain thousands of diverse artworks, from paintings and sculptures to ceramics and installations.
Mohammed Al Atiq, General Manager of Regency Art and General Coordinator of Al Asmakh International Symposium of Art, said Al Asmakh International Museum of Art will be a major project which will house artworks produced at workshops, competitions and other events to be conducted by Regency Art in the coming years.
He was speaking at a press conference yesterday at the Wyndham Grand Regency hotel to launch the first art atelier scheduled to be organised monthly. The ongoing Al Asmakh Art Atelier sees participation of eight artists from the region, including Karieemh Hussain and Najibah Al Saihati from Saudi Arabia, Areej Rajab (Bahrain), Ali Azzam (Egypt), Bashir Al Ansary (Syria), Noura Abdulhadi (Kuwait), Ebtisam Alsaffar (Qatar) and Islam Kamil Ali (Sudan).
For this workshop, each of the artists is creating three paintings which will be featured at an exhibition at Wyndham and later be kept until the museum opens.
“These artworks can be used as a reference for university students and will be stored until the launch of Al Asmakh International Museum of Art after three years,” said Al Atiq.
He said Regency Art has a number of future projects including an international sculpture competition symposium. Last year the same company hosted its first major project which was the ‘Al Asmakh International Symposium of Art.” A second edition of the annual symposium will be held from March 3 to 12 this year. The inaugural symposium produced over 50 artworks displayed in Wyndham giving the hotel an art museum ambience.
“The first edition of Al Asmakh Art Atelier comes to accomplish the quality and excellence of Al Asmakh symposium in which a significant number of international artists participated and whose paintings have made a mark in the local cultural and art scene,” Hassan Al Asmakh, Deputy Chairman of Regency Holding Group, said in a statement.
Al Asmakh said organizing such events shows the important role the private sector plays in developing culture and art by mustering the potential of artists and showing their outputs in a most modern way in the hotel.
The monthly ateliers will attract over a hundred prominent international artists yearly providing a good opportunity for artists to exchange experiences and learn from each other.
Al Atiq underscored the significant role of the private sector in supporting art and culture in the country as the company invests millions just to bring international artists here to take part at the monthly workshops and other major events held year round.
He stressed Regency Art is an art and culture project set to play a key role for the future of local, Arab and international art scene.
“Our organization has committed to document international modern art, preserve works of art, and shed light on authentic creations through live workshops, exhibitions and support art and artists hoping the best for the future and for the upcoming generations,” he said.
For his part, Ayman Lotfy, General Manager of Wyndham Grand Regency, said by hosting the workshops and displaying the paintings the hotel has been turned into an effective art medium.
“This gives the hospitality sector a new dimension set to attract art lovers from different parts of the world which in turn will help to activate the tourism sector,” said Lotfy. The Peninsula
