Doha, Qatar: The Doha Film Institute (DFI), in collaboration with Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, successfully conducted an immersive five-day summer workshop on Visual Scoring and Sound Design, empowering young creatives to explore innovative approaches to audio-visual creation.
Held recently as part of Mathaf’s Beat the Heat Summer Camp, the sessions ran daily from 3pm to 6pm and targeted adults and emerging artists. Led by Joshua Rodenberg, a Doha-based sound and video artist, multimedia creator, and Associate Professor and Head of Innovative Media Studios at Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar (VCUarts Qatar), the workshop invited participants to move beyond traditional musical notation.
According to posts on DFI’s social media accounts, participants experimented with mapping, capturing, and designing original soundscapes that blend visual art, digital technology, and environmental acoustics.
Activities included crafting unique abstract scores and recording the hidden sounds of the museum spaces, culminating in the creation of synchronised audio-visual works.
Rodenberg, known for his immersive installations that integrate audio manipulation, video, sculpture, and technology, guided the group through hands-on exercises that emphasised experimental techniques. The programme encouraged creatives to treat sound as a dynamic, visual language rather than a conventional score, fostering original compositions tied to the museum environment.
The collaboration underscores the growing synergy between Qatar’s leading cultural institutions. DFI continues its mission to nurture a vibrant film culture and strengthen the local industry by providing specialised training opportunities, while Mathaf expands access to contemporary art education through its free, registration-based summer programming open to diverse age groups.
Mathaf’s broader Beat the Heat Summer Camp, which runs throughout July, offered a month-long series of creative workshops encompassing sculpture, AI art, animation, digital illustration, and more. The Visual Scoring and Sound Design sessions stood out for their focus on experimental media practices that bridge film, fine arts, and technology, skills increasingly relevant to Qatar’s expanding creative sector.
The workshop equipped young talents with tools to produce distinctive audio-visual pieces. Such initiatives align with national efforts to develop local expertise in filmmaking and media arts.
