Qatar Contemporary: Art and Photography

About

As part of the St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum, Qatar Contemporary Art and Photography Exhibition will showcase Qatar’s rapid social and urban transformation through the eyes of talented emerging artists from Qatar. With over 50 artists and 150 artworks on view, the exhibition will explore implications of this sudden change on the way people think and how the community as a whole sees itself.

The exhibition explores various themes in defining the contemporary, such as materiality, with its connotations of construction and progress, alluding to the building blocks of modern institutions. Another theme depicts the constant tension between conventional codes and establishing new artistic practices. The final theme bears witness to the mounting effects of digital technology and automated processes on art and Qatari society as a whole.

The rapid transformation that Qatar is currently experiencing brings with it unprecedented creative opportunities for photographers not only to document but to contribute towards the reshaping of the visual identity of the nation. A separate section in the exhibition showcases the work of contemporary photographers based in Qatar, alongside photography commissioned by Qatar Museums as part of our Years of Culture exchange programme and related photographs from the collections. The displays seek to examine the changing nature of Qatar as a people and as a place through the photographic medium; to provide a platform for emerging photographers based in the country; and to introduce Qatar Museums’ historic collections to new audiences, revealing the role of photography in promoting mutual understanding between cultures and nations.