Doha International Handicrafts Festival
Doha, Qatar - Within the framework of celebrations of Doha, capital of Arab culture for 2010, the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage in the State of Qatar and the Research Centre for History, Art and Islamic Culture (IRCICA) in Istanbul organized the Doha International Festival for Handicrafts. An International Seminar on ‘Innovation and Creativity in Crafts ‘,’ Doha International Award for Innovation and Creativity in Crafts, and the International Exhibition of Artisans-as at-work complemented the festival.
The works of the symposium and the festival were inaugurated by Prof. Mubarak bin Nasser AI-Khalifa, Secretary General of the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage, and Dr. Halit Eren, Director General of IRCICA, in the presence of some OIC Ambassadors represented in Doha.
Prof. AI-Khalifa stated in his address that crafts are considered as a first priority within the Cultural Strategy of the State of Qatar. He added that crafts represent the national identity and contribute towards the introduction of the cultures of other people. This can easily be noticed in this international festival where artisans and experts from different places of the world came together to exchange expertise and work with the same spirit of giving love and creativity to this field. He also pointed out that crafts are a means to face unemployment and he called on the community to well recognize the important role of the artisans in the society.
Dr. Eren pointed out the importance of organizing this festival in Doha and gathering Master Artisans from various regions to display their innovative works and meet with specialists of the field. He added that the festival aimed to raise more awareness of the real role played by crafts towards contributing economically and culturally to our communities. He gave a brief about the various events IRCICA organized before with the same spirit and referred to the Craft books that were published on