DOHA: Three Reach Out To Asia (Rota) students and two professors from Indonesia and Afghanistan took part at the recent Tasmeem Doha 2013 organised by Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar (VCU-Q).
The event from March 10 to 17 included a series of exhibitions, presentations by artists, designers and architects who have realised projects in the country, and a series of workshops and labs for students.
“It was a great opportunity for me to attend this workshop and conference as I learned lots of things and interacted with different people from different cultures and developed networking. I learned a different prospective of miniature painting and Islamic art through witnessing work from different part of the World,” said Mohammad Tamim Sahbbzada, a teacher of miniature painting working in calligraphy department in Murad Khane Institute, Kabul.
For Oktarina Isnaini, a grade X1 textiles student from a Rota-sponsored school in Bayat, Indonesia, taking part in Tasmeem Doha 2013 was a dream come true. “I wanted to have more knowledge about Qatar so that I could introduce diversity, culture, and art in Indonesia, especially in Bayat. This event has given me all that I have always yearned for,” said Isnaini.
Febriyani Eka Putri, another student from the Rota-sponsored school in Bayat, studying Ceramic, the experience of Tasmeem Doha 2013 will be long cherished experience. “I wanted to have more in-depth knowledge about my major (Ceramic Craft). This was a great opportunity to learn exactly that. Now I am more confident about my subject, courtesy Rota for bringing me to Qatar for Tasmeem Doha 2013,” said Putri.
Melanie McClintock, a BFA Fashion Design graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, now working in Indonesia, to lead an educational art project Indoartamiks in the nearby village of Bayat, Klaten, was one of high profile professional to take part in Tasmeem Doha 2013.
McClintock presented at Tasmeem about Indoartamiks, a dynamic new educational program focused on increasing the creative and entrepreneurial skills of vocational craft students and their community in Bayat, Java, Indonesia.
Indoartamiks was initiated as a direct response to a group of ceramic craftswomen requesting ways to innovate their traditional products in the increasingly competitive global economy. McClintock, then a volunteer from VCUQatar, created an experimental, collaborative project between the craftswomen, vocational students (both ceramic and textile), and a group of established graffiti artists from the thriving street art scene in nearby Jogjakarta, a city renowned for their art and culture.
Upon successful completion of the pilot, the project received funding from ROTA and Vodafone and is now under the guidance of their local affiliate association, Titian Foundation, to continue as a two-year experimental program.
The Peninsula
