Anime gaining popularity in Qatar

DOHA: Anime is a popular art form with a continuously growing fandom in Qatar extending among Qatari artists evidenced by “Colour Bar”- an exhibition recently opened in Katara dedicated to this genre.

The exhibition currently on show at Katara Building 19 features a collection of 38 artworks by six Qatari artists with passion for anime and animation.

“I think the popularity of anime mostly started with my generation because when we were young we liked to watch anime dubbed in Arabic on national TV which were very famous here,” Kholoud Al Ali, one of the artists whose works are featured at the exhibition, told the media.

When she was a child, Al Ali said she thought she was the only one obsessed with anime that she used to call herself an otaku creating fan art.

“But when I grew up I found out that the anime community here in Doha is huge and I found out that so many people are watching anime and that they have a club, there are cosplayers and collectors,” she added.

“Anime is very famous here but unfortunately it’s a little bit an underrated art, so if I’m aiming to have a personal exhibition and it will only be about anime, I don’t think it will have similar acceptance in society than if I make another exhibition on cultural things like falcons,” she said.

Having started engaging in anime at a tender age, Al Ali has developed her own unique style in approaching this popular art form, which she says, varies depending on the medium she uses.

Her inspiration is mainly based on personal experiences, emotions and philosophy in life. For this exhibition, her collection focuses on a world a girl creates for her which she holds dear and protects.

She is thankful for Katara organising the exhibition and providing artists like her the chance to show their work to people.

“Most of the time, we show our work on the Internet through Instagram, Twitter and other social media but to meet people, let them see our work in person, interact and get feedback from them is a totally different experience,” she said.

Another Qatari artist Abdul Aziz Yousef was of the same view anime has a huge following in the country.

“The community is big. Ajyal runs Geekdom every year. There are many people who are interested in fan art, animation production has gone up in the market, and we have a lot of short movies created for that,” said Yousef.

“Also people from Qatar are travelling around the world to participate in events that celebrate animation and anime specifically, so I think the awareness and the community itself is growing bigger than what we all think,” he added.

For the past 15 years, Yousef has taken his interest in animation to another level visiting studios in other countries like Japan and Spain and making films.

“I was lucky to produce my first animation in Japan with Japanese artists. Currently I’m working on a film in India which is also animated,” he said.

For Hamad Al Mutawa, another participating artist, a proof of anime’s increasing popularity in Qatar is the fact artists are creating their own cartoons.

“Many things have changed. We now create our own cartoons, unlike before when only Japanese people make them,” said Al Mutawa, whose works centre on classic cartoon characters.

The show’s title “Coulour Bar” derives from the colour bars on television, which Yousef says, mirrors the homogeneous direction Qatari artists take in the field of animation delivering a unified visual experience to the audience.

Other artists featured in the exhibition , running until August 19, are Aisha Al Khulaifi, Mohammed Al Sharif, and Fatima Al Nisf.