[email protected] MONDAY 6 APRIL 2015 • www.thepeninsulaqatar.com • 4455 7741 PARK HOUSE SPONSORS DOHA HOCKEY CLUB P | 4 The recently opened Doha Fire Station marks another milestone in the evolving arts and culture landscape of Qatar as it sets a new paradigm for heritage preservation and opens a new window FOLLOW THIS on contemporary art production. BLUEPRINT FOR SEASONAL SOUPS P | 8 VIDHU VINOD CHOPRA: ‘PROVING HIS POINT’ IN HOLLYWOOD P | 2-3 P | 11 | MONDAY 6 APRIL 2015 | 02 CULTURE Fire Station is now open: For heritage preservation and contemporary art production Pictures: Salim Matramkot BY RAYNALD C RIVERA of the Doha’s built environment for the future amid the many changes he recently opened witnessed by the city as it rapidly Doha Fire Station marks develops. another milestone in the “We want to keep our own Tevolving arts and culture identity and heritage. We do a lot of landscape of Qatar as it sets a new heritage preservation. There were paradigm for heritage preservation talks that the building could be and opens a new window on demolished and we knew that we contemporary art production. had to save it and be transferred On the exterior, the structure for civil use because it is a building maintains the look of the old Civil that everybody is associated with,” Defence building — a veneer of said QM Chairperson H E Sheikha what it once was decades ago Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa for many a resident and citizen Al Thani, during the ‘Generations — but getting inside provides an for Culture’ panel discussion held entirely new space which awaits last week at Georgetown University new breed of artists to produce School of Foreign Service in Qatar. innovative art. Located in Wadi Public visits to the building were Al Sail, the iconic building was once limited to schools, but now built in 1982 and had been used it is open to anyone interested to by the fire brigade until late 2012 learn and interact with emerging when it was handed over to Qatar artistic talent locally and regionally. Museums (QM) for preservation “We wanted to be a true creative and conservation. hub in the heart of Qatar. We Repurposing the function of wanted to add another layer to the the building from one of civil great culture and artistic scene that administration to one of civil use, is happening around the city,” said QM has taken a significant step Hala Al Khalifa, director of the Fire preserving an important element Station. | MONDAY 6 APRIL 2015 | 03 The Fire Station provides an interactive environment and Artist in Residency programme community engagement. set to propel a sustainable artis- There is also an auditorium tic environment in the country. designed for meetings of the It focuses on various disciplines artists, but can also be used from visual arts, fashion, anime by amateur and aspiring artists, and multimedia to literature, said Sheikha Al Mayassa. performance and music. “We have already been “We are opening for all crea- approached by a comedy tive disciplines of artists living in group, a gaming group and an Qatar at the moment, but hope- animation group. People are fully once we grow and we have coming to us already and we’re a much wider audience we will giving them access to the facili- open to a more regional and ties based on availability.” international intake of artists,” Al Khalifa expressed keen- said Al Khalifa. ness in having an open studio The first cycle of the pro- initiative to create an extensive gramme has witnessed 170 dialogue between the artists applicants, from whom 20 will and the wider community in be selected by an independent the future. jury, said Sheikha Al Mayassa, “It is very important for the adding they wanted specifi- community to come to the cally to unleash talent of young Fire Station on specific days artists who could barely rent a and be introduced to the art- space to work. ists and understand how they This first batch of resi- work, how they think and have dent artists will work for nine a little window into their studio months starting September spaces. It is always exciting to this year in the studios of the see how an artist works within Fire Station which is home to his environment.” 24 studios and a gallery space As its initial offering, the Fire for exhibitions and community Station recently opened the interaction. Twenty studios will 555 exhibition, a fitting homage be open to these artists, while to ‘The Art Centre’, the first art- four will be reserved for visiting ist in residence initiative which artists. was the brainchild of Sheikh At the end of their residency, Hassan bin Mohammed bin Ali the 20 artists will stage a group Al Thani. This inaugural artist in exhibition in the Garage Gallery. residence programme in Doha “We actually kept the iden- began in 1995 and culminated tity of the space itself; it was in 2005. the garage where all the fire The exhibition features works trucks used to park so that’s still by artists from the Arab world called the Garage Gallery. We who temporarily lived in Qatar will have our annual show there and left an indelible influence and showcase everything that’s on its cultural landscape. It is happening in the residency,” an in depth documentation that said Al Khalifa. opens a portal to the first resi- The Fire Station also features dences in Doha through paint- other facilities such as a park, ings, installations, photographs, a library, an arts and crafts and videos. It is open to the shop, a cinema, a plaza, and public until July 14. a restaurant set to promote an The Peninsula | MONDAY 6 APRIL 2015 | 04 CAMPUS oha Hockey Club has got a new sponsor in The Park House Park House sponsors DCommunity Initiative, the not-for- profit community engagement arm of Park House English School. The spon- Doha Hockey Club sorship deal was signed earlier and will be a rolling support of the club. Park House will offer the club a new home, after its pitches in Rayan were bulldozed, provide the club with new home and away strips and afford them use of the school’s new astroturf field. Son of the Founder and School Director Niall Brennan said: “We are delighted to extend support to the Doha Hockey Club as the main sponsor. This falls within the remit of our community engagement arm and promotes sport and activity in the community.” Doha Hockey Club Chairman, Richard Milton, echoed Brennan’s message say- ing, “After the uncertainty of losing our home we are very grateful to the Park House Community Initiative for the sup- port and assistance to the club.” The Peninsula group of 11 students who took part in the award winning co-curricular programme at Georgetown programme examines Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) called A Zones of Peace, Zones of Conflict (ZCZP), recently returned from their US-bound trip where they issues affecting Muslims in America visited Dearborn, Michigan and Washington. The focus of this learning trip was for the students to examine the complexities revolving around the core issues affecting Muslims living in the US post 9/11 and post emergence of ISIS. As part of the ZCZP programme which sched- ules two trips a year, one during the Spring Break in March, and the other over the summer holidays, students have the opportunity to engage with the local communities affected by various types of con- flicts through meetings with politicians, journalists, students, community organizers and other change- makers in the destination country. “This trip was unique not only because we were looking at ongoing and complex societal challenges, but also because many of the students felt a personal connection to the subject which seemed to give them a greater ability to connect the experience of Muslims in the US with the global community and vice versa,” said Sheena Martinez, GU-Q Educational Enrichment Manager, who manages the ZCZP programme curriculum. “We have selected Dearborn, Michigan, as one of the two US destinations where the focus was more on the community level engagement because of the fact that in this particular area lives the largest concentra- tion of population of Arab descent outside of the Arab world,” explained Martinez. To investigate the subject further on the larger, policy- making side of things, the group visited Washington, where they met with Congressman Keith Ellison who is the first Muslim elected to US congress. They also topics of Islamophobia and dual identities of Muslim “The circumstances surrounding the status of Muslims visited a mosque and met with representatives from Americans. in America are constantly evolving and the challenges United Voices of America, an organization that pro- Martinez said that this trip was different from previ- continue to exist, and this was something our students motes civic engagement and democracy, and lobbies ous ZCZP trips because the destination and the focal really identified with on a more personal level,” she for minority groups. The discussions revolved around point was a conflict situation with no clear end in sight. concluded. The Peninsula | MONDAY 6 APRIL 2015 | COMMUNITY / MARKETPLACE 05 HMC conducts lecture on engineering careers amad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) Training and Development Department within the Office Hof Engineering, in collaboration with the Health Professions Awareness and Volunteering Programs, recently visited the Aisha Bint Abu Bakr Independent School for Girls to promote engineering-related career opportunities in HMC. The visit is part of HMC’s efforts to attract students towards engineering careers at the medical corpora- tion, which sees teams from HMC regularly go to local schools to advise young men and women to opt for higher education in engineering.