By Isabel Ovalle
Spring has arrived, and with it a rich and varied programme for culture lovers. Katara Cultural Village and other venues are offering music, art and traditional festivals that will attract people of all tastes and pockets.
The main event this month brings the essence of Africa to Qatar. It’s the Katara African Festival, which will feature numerous activities from April 7 to 14, including a big stage set up to welcome street artists and ambulatory music bands and acts. Show performers will be present during the entire festival to animate the various spots in Katara.
They will be performing authentic African shows such as La Hadhra, Malouf, Gnawa, Mezwed and Stambali or percussion. One of the most interesting acts will be the African circus, namely The Kenyan Boys, composed of musicians, dancers, acrobats, fire performers and contortionists, who will propel audiences into a whirlwind of wonder with amazing acrobatic and juggling feats and a host of entertaining numbers.
For the Spring Outdoor Art Fair, Katara is encouraging all artists to participate by applying for their own exhibition booth, and take advantage of the opportunity to exhibit new works.
One of the main objectives of the Spring Outdoor Art Fair is to stimulate the art market in Doha and to support Qatar-based artists by maximizing opportunities for them to both exhibit and sell works that are affordable to a general audience interested in art.
Katara Cultural Village Foundation will also continue featuring the first solo exhibition in the Middle East of works by Alighiero Boetti, one of the most important and influential artists of the twentieth century.
Curated by Ben Brown, a London-based curator and gallery owner, the exhibition kicked off on March 7 and will continue until May 2. Boetti was born in Turin, Italy, in 1940 and his first works were created in the 1960s and became increasingly conceptual.
He used simple and often industrial materials, concentrating more on the creative conception of the work and leaving its execution to others – in case of the embroideries, to Afghani women. Following on from major retrospectives at Tate Modern, Reina Sofia and MoMa, this exhibition will provide an extensive look at his oeuvre, including a wide range of embroideries from Mappas to small Arazzi.
Also this month, Richard Strauss’ Alpine Symphony, with conductor George Pehlivanian, will marvel the audience at the Opera House in building 16 of Katara Cultural Village. This tone poem depicts a day of hiking in music. The orchestra will also premiere, on the same programme on April 13 at 7.30pm, The Cycle of Life by Rami Al Rajab, who was born in Baghdad in 1978.
The four-day Senya Festival will hit Katara Beach on April 17 and will include traditional fishing and pearl diving competitions. The closing ceremony of the event will be on Saturday April 20 and will see participation by approximately 30 traditional dhows.
Also on April 17, stay tuned for the Chamber Music Series with the Doha String Quartet concert at 7.30pm in the Opera House of Katara. Qatar Philharmonic violinists Dmitri Torchinsky and Nina Heidenreich, violist Andrea Mereutza and cellist Cristoph Schmitz will once again combine to perform three works: Franz Schubert’s Quartettsatz, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s C Major String Quintet and Dmitri Shostakovich’s Third String Quartet.
Enriching the cultural offerings this month is Bruckner’s Fifth Symphony concert at Katara’s Opera House, in building 16, on April 20 at 7.30pm, conducted by Mark Minkowski. At the same time and place but on April 26, Michalis Economou will bring Elgar’s Enigma Variations. The concert will begin with Aaron Copland’s Adagio for Strings.
To close an exciting month, a good choice is Giulio Cesare The Met: Live in HD at the Drama Theater on April 27 at 7pm. The total run time is four hours and 31 minutes. During this period, countertenor David Daniels will sing the title role opposite Natalie Dessay as Cleopatra. The conductor is Baroque specialist Harry Bicket.
In addition, have in mind that this Thursday evening the atrium of the Museum of Islamic Art provides a beautiful setting to hear the music of the great 17th century English composer, Henry Purcell. Members of Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra will launch the Chamber Music at the MIA series with a performance of Purcell’s Abdelazer Suite.
Also this week, thanks to the programme of Qatar UK Year of Culture, five young Qataris will travel to London. Two filmmakers will take part in the Birds Eye View Film Festival, which this year celebrates Arab women filmmakers. And two young Qatari actors, along with one director, will be the only international students attending this year’s Sam Wanamaker Festival, a special series of drama workshops at Shakespeare’s Globe.
Other ongoing exhibitions range from Afghan art at Ferozkoh, to sport and design in Designed to Win, and the magnificent Rock on Top of Another Rock in London, as well as DFI UK Cinema Showcase -- a series of monthly screenings throughout 2013 celebrating the power of classic and contemporary British films. On April 26 and 27, at 7pm and 4pm, respectively, there will be screenings of Kes, a film by Ken Loach, at MIA.
The Peninsula
