Occidental Petroleum of Qatar Ltd (Oxy Qatar) and international calligraphy artist Sabah Arbilli, presented a National Day sculpture to H E Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Khalifa Al Thani, Minister of Municipality and Urban Planning, at a ribbon cutting ceremony yesterday on the Corniche. The stainless steel artwork, standing over six metres high, is a gift to the people of Qatar in celebration of the country’s National Day.
The sculpture reflects the rich heritage of Qatar and offers an exceptional opportunity to enjoy the poetry of Qatar’s Founder as a unique work of art. Featuring a poem by Sheikh Jassim Bin Mohamed Bin Thani, written in Arabic calligraphy, the sculpture is the first of its kind in Qatar to showcase poetry from the nation’s Founder and the first public sculpture of this scale for the artist.
Oxy Qatar’s President and General Manager Stephen Kelly welcomed the guests to the unveiling ceremony. “For last year’s National Day, Oxy Qatar and Sabah joined together to present an exhibition of his “Al Moases” artwork, inspired by the poetry of the Founder of the State of Qatar. During the course of that exhibition, Sabah was inspired by one of the Founder’s poems, and envisioned this sculpture to stand here on Doha Corniche, looking out to the sea,” Kelly said. Oxy is proud to have been able to help Sabah bring to fruition this unique celebration of the Founder’s poetry and his passion for creativity.
In addition to promoting Qatar’s rich and vibrant heritage, Oxy supports Qatar’s goal to create dialogue and discourse through the stimulus of art and culture. “We look forward to the rich discussion that Sabah’s sculpture will surely inspire in the year to come, with its unique fusion of calligraphy, history, poetry and sculpture.”
Kelly said: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who was involved in the project for their hard work and dedication, including the support and guidance of Doha Municipality. I also want to extend our sincere gratitude to Sabah Arbilli. Without his talents, support and dedication to preserving Qatar’s artistic traditions, this project would not have been possible.”
Arbilli supervised the artwork design and creation of his sculpture with direct guidance from the Doha Municipality team. Arbilli said: “I am deeply honoured as an artist to contribute my sculpture to Qatar National Day celebrations. As an artist I was inspired by a particular verse and its meaning from an exhibition I did last year based on Sheikh Jassim’s poetry. This particular verse inspired me to design the sculpture. Art is a universal dialogue, capturing the beauty and form within each piece, which is shared with an audience. This piece celebrates Qatar’s culture, history and captivates and draws the viewers to its presence. Qatar is very much an internationally growing country and it is attributes like this which make it more cosmopolitan on a global map.”
The Peninsula
