W Doha Hotel & Residences played host to “Art for Tomorrow” Conference by The International New York Times

Doha - Qatar, March 17, 2015: W Doha Hotel & Residences played host to the International New York Times’ “Art for Tomorrow” Conference organized with Qatar Museums and the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage of Qatar from 14th to 16th March 2015.  

“It has been truly inspiring to be a part of this prestigious event. Like the organizers, we believe that art and architecture play a crucial role in shaping communities and enriching lives throughout the world. This is precisely the same reason why as a hotel, W Doha tries its best to support, in whatever capacity we have be it through hosting events like this, in the cultivation and meeting of creative minds that encourage a breadth of cultural exchange among our local and international guests,” says Safak Guvenc, Area Manager of Qatar and General Manager for W Doha Hotel & Residences. 

Primarily sponsored by Sotheby’s, Art for Tomorrow saw the attendance of delegates such as artists, gallerists, architects, urban planners, political decision-makers, and cultural and financial experts. Key topics were the changing dynamics of art and architecture and their potential to change people and places, including how investment in art and culture contributes to urban spaces and can reinvigorate communities, the function of corporate investment in art, and how investing in cultural projects contributes to brand identity. 

The speakers included: 
•    Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Chairperson, Qatar Museums (delivering opening address)
•    Jeff Koons, Artist
•    Jack Lang, President of L’Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris
•    Jean Nouvel, Architect
•    Rem Koolhaas, Architect and Professor, OMA and Harvard University
•    Martin Roth, Director of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London
•    Bruno Vinciguerra, chief operating officer, Sotheby’s
•    Dr. Lars Nittve, Director, M+ in West Kowloon
•    Friedhelm Hutte, Global Head of Art, Deutsche Bank
•    Akbar Al Baker, Group CEO Qatar Airways
•    Victoria Siddall, Frieze Art Fair Director
•    Gail Lord, President, Lord Cultural Resources
•    Adrian Ellis, AEA Consulting
•    Ali Güreli, Founder and Chairman, Contemporary Istanbul
•    Dr Abdellah Karroum, Director of Mathaf, Arab Museum of Modern Art
•    Mohammed Hafiz, Director, Athr Gallery, Jeddah
•    Jean-Paul Engelen, Director, Public Art Programs, Qatar Museums 
•    Florian Wupperfeld, CEO, Leading Cultural Destinations
•    Klaus Peter Kofler, CEO, Kofler & Kompanie International caterers
•    Sheikh Majed Al-Sabah, luxury retailer (Villa Moda) and art collector
•    Andrew Shoben, Director, Greyworld
•    Domenico Quaranta, digital art expert
•    Ana Andueza Amman, Partner, Deloitte
•    Savita Apte, Chair, Abraaj Art Prize and member of Art Dubai
•    Yorgos Archimandritis, curator, author and broadcaster
•    Miguel Angel Corzo, curator and critic
•    Yousef Ahmad, Qatari Artist
•    Ali Hassan, Qatari artist

The event also transformed W Doha Hotel & Residences into an art gallery with the incredible talent of Qatar’s local artists. One of the Qatari artists, Yousef Ahmad’s handmade Qatari Palm Leaf Paper rolled and fitted in black wooden frame with coated black net metal was displayed at the Sotheby’s Lounge. His work was also made into a short film which was presented in the Immersive Room by Qatar Tourism Authority. Ahmad, a member of the first generation of modern artists in Qatar, has exhibited throughout the United States, Europe and the Arab World, and is the Art Consultant to the New Arab Art Museum in Doha.

Another artist at the gallery was Omar Khalifa, who presented his “Double Exposure Art” with a pop-up art gallery. Khalifa’s exhibition used several double exposure works, in which profiles of people were superimposed over various landscapes. Visitors got the chance to become works of art themselves with their images superimposed onto classic Doha backgrounds.

Finally, the gallery saw an installation called “The Qatari Card Series” by Qatar Museum which featured artists Hessa Al Ali and Aziza Iqbal. The artwork was 14 playing cards characters produced on plexiglass, a solid transparent plastic. Playing cards, an activity done after the “Maghrib prayer” in every Majlis in Qatar, represent the strong bond the Qataris share. The rest of the cards’ design contained symbolic expressions of the Qatari culture with every pattern, costume and object carefully selected from everyday life in Qatar.