QF and Partners Bring Art and Sustainability To Public Spaces

The World Innovation Summit for Education has unveiled a photography series – Using the Used: A Reflection Of The Future Of Our City – at the Msheireb Metro Station in Doha, giving commuters the unique opportunity to learn about sustainability through the lens of youth in Qatar.

Created through a collaboration between the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) – an initiative of Qatar Foundation (QF) – Qatar Rail, Photo Art Qatar (PA.Qatar), and QF partner university Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar (VCUarts Qatar), the project aims to encourage young people to explore sustainability using creative mediums, specifically photography, that can translate into public spaces as forums of civic participation.

Farah Abel, Learning Ecoystems Policy Associate at WISE, said: “It is important for us to tap into the collective intelligence of our community and invite them to actively participate in reimagining public space as an opportunity for learning and creativity.

“The photography exhibition at Msheireb Metro Station is an example of how we, at WISE, are striving to create young champions of thought-leadership who can creatively engage in social topics in public forums.”

The photography series is part of WISE’s Doha Learning Days (DLD), a week-long initiative that takes place annually and aims to encourage the youth to become active members of their communities through meaningful activities co-curated in collaboration with relevant local and global learning ecosystems stakeholders.

This year’s program focused on the municipality of Al Wakra, who are constituents of UNESCO’S Learning City’s Network, with the city serving as the canvas for the photography workshops led by Photo Art Qatar.

PA.Qatar, which delivered workshops and activities for students between the ages of 15-25, brought in experts such as Reem Al-Sahlawi, Qatari environmental ethics researcher and advocate, and Abdulla Alqatami, environmental enthusiast and founder of Greener and Tadweer, leveraging various efforts being done locally around the cross-over of art, sustainability, and public space.

“When developing this project, we decided it was essential to provide students with as much knowledge as possible and how creatives are tackling such issues in their own projects,” said Ammar Alqamash, co-founder and exhibition curator, PA.Qatar.

The exhibition also features outputs from a workshop jointly conducted by VCUarts Qatar, WISE, and Qatar Academy Al Wakra (QAW) part of QF’s Pre-University Education. The session saw nine fashion design senior students from VCUarts Qatar mentor groups of school students from QAW to repurpose material found in their homes and create new objects, such as masks and face-shields, stationary holders, a miniature dark room, notebooks, shoe-box homes for pets and toys, indoor green houses, and a miniature foosball table.

Qatar Rail, as a strategic partner, played an important role in supporting the objective of leveraging public spaces to promote civic engagement around art and social topics, especially sustainability. The Doha Metro was designed with sustainability at the forefront of decision making – from society, to the economy, to the environment – and strives to support national objectives.

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Qatar Foundation – Unlocking Human Potential

Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF) is a non-profit organization that supports Qatar on its journey to becoming a diversified and sustainable economy. QF strives to serve the people of Qatar and beyond by providing specialized programs across its innovation-focused ecosystem of education, research and development, and community development.

QF was founded in 1995 by His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Father Amir, and Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, who shared the vision to provide Qatar with quality education. Today, QF’s world-class education system offers lifelong learning opportunities to community members as young as six months through to doctoral level, enabling graduates to thrive in a global environment and contribute to the nation’s development.

QF is also creating a multidisciplinary innovation hub in Qatar, where homegrown researchers are working to address local and global challenges. By promoting a culture of lifelong learning and fostering social engagement through programs that embody Qatari culture, QF is committed to empowering the local community and contributing to a better world for all.

For a complete list of QF’s initiatives and projects, please visit: www.qf.org.qa 

For any media inquiries, please contact: [email protected]

About the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE):

WISE was established by Qatar Foundation in 2009 under the leadership of its Chairperson, Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser. WISE is an international, multi-sectoral platform for creative, evidence-based thinking, debate, and purposeful action in education.  Through the biennial summit, collaborative research and a range of on-going programs, WISE is a global reference in new approaches to education.

About Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar

Established in 1998 through a partnership with Qatar Foundation, VCUarts Qatar is the international branch campus of Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of the Arts, a top-ranked art and design program in the U.S.  VCUarts Qatar is celebrating a fruitful 20-year alliance between VCU and the Qatar Foundation that underscores the commitment of each institution to excellence, inquiry, discovery and innovation in a global setting.

VCUarts Qatar offers students the opportunity to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in fashion design, graphic design, interior design and painting and printmaking, a Bachelor of Arts degree in art history, and a Master of Fine Arts degree in design.  A vibrant community with global reach, VCUarts promises to instill in students a lifelong passion for education and the arts. 

VCUarts Qatar offers valuable opportunities for cross-cultural exchange and connects VCUarts to the influential art and design world of the Middle East and beyond. The campus attracts renowned contributors to contemporary visual culture for speaking and teaching engagements, and hosts two major international events:  Tasmeem, a biennial art and design conference; and the Hamad bin Khalifa Islamic Art Symposium.