The Outbreak in Art

Exploring the world’s altered reality through artistic interaction, the Doha Film Institute’s (DFI) 8th Ajyal Film Festival presents the ‘Outbreak’ art exhibition in Msheireb Downtown Doha.

The setting could not have been better. Walking through the beautiful arcaded promenades between contemporary buildings in Msheireb Downtown, the Sikkat Wadi Msheireb that houses art galleries is a perfect setting for what the art world in Doha has in store. Architecture begetting art seems to be the theme. Housed in concrete, raw interiors with exposed pipes and large open spaces, the Outbreak art exhibition is certainly in the right setting.

Featuring inspiring works of art from 24 local talents, the selected artworks reflect the new reality of our world as it faces a period of instability and uncertainty, and pays tribute to the brave frontline workers and modern-day heroes who sacrifice their lives daily for our safety. Curated by Khalifa Al Thani, Outbreak looks at how various artist imagined the world and life during these unprecedented times.

“Art in multiple formats discusses the life during such trying times and the artist had the freedom to express their ideas, be it in analog to digital or multi-media,” explains Khalifa Al Thani.

From AJ Al Thani’s SandBox, which has a huge hourglass within a red light zone, that seems to reflect the fear that is inherent throughout the year and the hourglass looks at how time has gone by to the large Washing Machine installation called Cycle by Maha Al Subaey that touches on how we have been completely swept away by the pandemic, and how life completely washes over us and makes the world and us into a newer fresher form; each of the installations is completely different in perspective and thought process making this the most diverse group of artwork that has been brought under one common theme of Outbreak.

“The Cycle defines my feelings, the tumultuous feeling that envelops me to the sheer calming effect of water as it washes over us to the final clean version, are the feelings one goes through in life as we experience each crisis like the pandemic that has taken over our life,” says Maha Al  Subaey, who is exhibiting for the first time and seems to have captured the attention of the art community, with the washing machine giving us a real-life experience of a wave hitting us and then a soft calmness enveloping the onlooker, a multi-dimensional installation that affects us via numerous sensory organs.

Mohammed Al-Suwaidi, an architect and artist, and his sister Maryam Al-Suwaidi have both come up with their version of reality as they see it in context with the pandemic.

Roda Al Thani’s Reclaimed Nature, finds beauty and new life in the surroundings, with the slow down in life imposed by the pandemic, a fresh perspective to the pandemic in ar

This year’s Ajyal exhibition will continue till December 10 and will run from Saturday to Thursday from 10 AM – 10 PM, and Friday from 2 PM – 10 PM at Sikkat Wadi Msheireb.

As a much-anticipated in-person event of the first-ever hybrid edition of the 8th Ajyal Film Festival, ‘Outbreak’ is presented in line with government guidelines and with the health of all visitors as the top priority, explains Khalifa Al Thani.

Participating artists include Ali Al-Mannai, Ibrahim Al-Baker, AJ Al-Thani, Shouq Al-Manaa, Hamad Al-Fayhani, Noor Al-Nasr, Mohammed Al-Suwaidi, Saad Al-Muslamani, Roda Al-Thani, Bothayna Al-Zaman, Anfal Al-Kandari, Maryam Al-Homaid, Mohammed Al-Hammadi, Marsya Abdulghani, Elie Fahed, Abdulaziz Yousef, Maryam Al-Suwaidi, Adriane De Souza, Paul Valentine, Sharefa Al-Mannai, Reem Al-Haddad, Maha Al-Subaey, Nasser Al-Kubaisi, and Ghada Al-Khater.