By YASIN ABU TAQIU
The dream of building Qatar’s Walt Disney Company or reproducing the likes of UAE’s ‘Freej Grandmother’ TV series starts in Ali Jaber’s home.
The 27-year-old Qatari started drawing when he was four years old, and he says his mother’s interest in his childhood drawings encouraged him to develop his talent in art. At his home in Maamoura, Jaber showed Doha Today thousands of his cartoons, which reflect the colours, stories, rich history and humour of Qatar.
“Qatar today needs a company that specialises in cartoons and TV animation,” he said. “Our neighbouring countries, like the UAE, already have similar companies doing cartoons and animation and it’s my dream to contribute to founding such a company in Qatar.”
According to Jaber, demand for cartoons in Qatar is high, like elsewhere in the world, and he dreams of publishing a comic book or starting the first Qatari company producing cartoons or animation.
“The first thing people do when they read the paper is go to the cartoon of the day,” he said.
Cartoon Network, one of the leading players in the field globally, broadcasts to 248 million homes in 22 languages, including Arabic, across 166 countries, including Qatar.
Neighbouring countries like the UAE and Kuwait have already produced their own local cartoon TV series like ‘Freej’, which is produced in the UAE, and ‘Bo Qotada wa Bo Nabeel’, which is produced in Kuwait.
‘Freej’ (old neighbourhood) is an Emirati show that centres on four traditional Emirati grandmothers who live in the same old neighbourhood in modern-day Dubai, and was created by Mohammed Saeed Harib.
Jaber taps into his talent to do cartoons, though he has no formal training. He is a student of marketing at the College of the North Atlantic Qatar and is awaiting his graduation this year. He has showcased his cartoon collections in arts exhibitions in Qatar and other GCC countries, including Kuwait.
“It’s something that I love doing and I’m not just doing the same thing over and over again, I’m learning something new. I don’t have a problem just staying in all day and sketching, because sketching is one of the very few things I really enjoy.”
His advice to other young people interested in art is to always practice and take inspiration from the good work of other artists.
“There is no shortcut to success. Effort is essential and only practise makes you perfect,” he said. “Arts need daily practice, every day, to look at your work and try to modify or improve it.”
As a freelance cartoonist, Jaber has in the past taken on several projects from private companies and government departments. The Ministry of Information Technology (IctQatar) was among the government departments that regularly gave him work.
THE PENINSULA
