Organised by Qatar Museums and presented as part of Qatar Creates, the year-round national cultural movement that curates, promotes, and celebrates the diversity of cultural activities in Qatar, the festival brings together innovative photographers and photographic communities from Qatar and the Western Asia and North Africa (WANA) region. Established under the leadership of Qatar Museums’ Chairperson, Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Tasweer builds on Qatar’s commitment to nurture artistic talent, support creative industries, and further develop the nation’s creative economy.
A key element of Tasweer Photo Festival Qatar are two awards dedicated to Sheikh Saoud Al Thani (1966-2014), one of Qatar’s greatest collectors, who largely shaped the Museum of Islamic Art’s extraordinary collection. I Am The Traveler And Also The Road is an exhibition featuring the unique photographic approaches of the recipients in 2021 and 2022 of Tasweer’s Sheikh Saoud Al Thani Project Award grants who live in the WANA region. The work of Tasweer’s twelve grant award winners will be exhibited from 16 March to 20 May 2023 at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha. I Am The Traveler And Also The Road presents the work of Rula Halawani (Palestine), Mona Hassan (Egypt), Mohammed Elshamy (Qatar), Shaima Al-Tamimi (Qatar), Samar Sayed Baiomy (Egypt), and Hayat Al-Sharif (Yemen), Fethi Sahroui (Algeria), Salih Basheer (Sudan), Fatema A M Al-Doh (Qatar), Reem Falaknaz (Oman), Mouneb Nassar (Syria), and Abdo Shanan (Algeria). Complementing the presentation at Mathaf, the Qatar National Convention Centre will host a pop-up version of the I Am The Traveler And Also The Road exhibition at QNCC on 18 and 19 March 2023, during TEDinArabic (بالعربي TED), a joint initiative with TED and Qatar Foundation.
Tasweer’s Managing Director, Khalifa Al Obaidly said, “The Sheikh Saoud Al Thani Awards programmes actively seek out and showcase the most modern, diverse, and talented photographers in the region, both established and up-and-coming. We have been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to display the exceptional bodies of work produced by our grant award winners from 2021 and 2022 on the walls of the prestigious Mathaf gallery. I Am The Traveler And Also The Road is a powerful testament to the ability of photography to transcend cultural and linguistic barriers, and connect us all through the shared experiences that make us human. We are proud to be part of a movement that celebrates and promotes the artistic talent of our region, and we look forward to seeing what the future holds for these innovative photographers”.
For detailed information about Tasweer, please visit tasweer.org.qa.