Doha: Modern art is global by its nature and Qatar is diligently working on consolidating such a status, Shaikha Al Mayassa Bint Hamad Al Thani, the chairperson of the Qatar Museums, has said.
“If we look at contemporary art at the moment, I do not think that artists should determine the affiliation to a country or a nationality,” she said. “Contemporary art is global by its nature. This is what we are working on translating on the ground through our new programme for young aspiring artists. We are trying to attract the best artists from around the world, and the saying goes, ‘artists are among the most influential people in modern times’. Hence, we have invested heavily in education and culture, and this programme comes in second place in terms of the nature and size of investment,” Shaikha Al Mayassa said in an interview to the Style show to be aired on CNN International on Saturday.
The interview will mark CNN Style’s return to TV screens — 15 years after the iconic Elsa Klensch was last on the network, CNN said.
It will also be Shaikha Al Mayassa’s first major international TV interview in almost two years, the network added, referring to the Qatari iconic figure as “the undisputed queen of the art world”.
Shaikha Al Mayassa, sister of the Emir of Qatar, speaks to CNN about her role in preserving and growing the family’s extraordinary collection of art.
In recent years, she has made bold moves to bring some of the world’s greatest contemporary artists to Qatar — Damien Hirst and Takashi Murakami among them. Now, she’s turning the spotlight to China — enlisting the country’s most explosive artist Cai Guo Qiang to curate an exhibition of 15 contemporary Chinese artists at the Qatar Museum’s Al Riwaq Gallery, CNN said in its promo of the talk show.
Shaikha Al Mayassa has often been declared one of the most influential people in art and among the 100 most powerful women in the world.
