|  | Seasonal Social and Launch of QAIC’s Perfumery Museum Join QAIC for the launch of its new Perfumery Museum at the first Seasonal Social open house event of the year! On Friday, May 14, guests are welcome to tour QAIC’s historic space in the heart of Dupont Circle where they can immerse themselves in the history (and scents) of perfume and view Sabah Arbilli’s Transcendent Text exhibition before it’s gone. The event will feature live music, a live demonstration on how to make perfume, food & beverages, and more. Doors open at 4 pm. Registration is free but required. |
| | |  | Fellowship and Internship Call for Summer/Fall 2021 QAIC offers numerous opportunities for students, post-graduates, and those passionate about the arts and cultural heritage to engage with the work of the Institute. Whether you are looking to conduct in-depth research projects, learn various professional skill sets, or simply wish to get involved with QAIC’s event programming, we want to hear from you! We are currently accepting applications for Summer/Fall 2021 Fellows and Interns. For more information, including how to apply, please visit our website here. |
| |  | |  | Two New Members Added to the QAIC Board of Directors QAIC welcomes two new members to our Board of Directors. Bill Grant served as the head of the US Embassy in Qatar from 2017 until his retirement in 2020. Professor Chuck Thorpe of Clarkson University has served as Senior VP and Provost, and as Dean of Arts and Sciences. To read the full announcement and their bios, click here. |
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| Launch of QAIC’s Quarterly A2Q Magazine On Wednesday, March 31, QAIC launched the first edition of the new quarterly A2Q magazine. The A2Q Magazine highlights the unique stories and journeys of artists, writers, academics, and those seeking to make a positive change in the world. The first issue focused on QAIC’s selected monthly themes from the first quarter: Film, Sports & Society, and Architecture & Olfactory Art. For more information about the A2Q Magazine and how to submit your work for the next issue, visit qataramerica.org/a2q. |
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|  | QAIC's First Museum Series Panel: “The Curation and Influence of Islamic Art in Museums Today” On Tuesday, April 6, QAIC hosted the inaugural virtual panel of the 2021 Museum Series. This event featured a panel of curators that manage the Islamic art collections at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of the Smithsonian, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar. The discussion was moderated by the Chair of QAIC’s Board of Directors, Peggy Loar. The panel explored the evolution of Islamic art curation in museums today as experts from both the U.S. and Qatar shared their own curatorial processes and approaches towards exhibiting their institutions' Islamic art collections. |
| | |  | New Developments at QAIC We at QAIC are happy to unveil several new features at our home location. The final touches are being placed on our brand-new theater that will serve as the main component of our Arab Film House initiative. In addition, will also be unveiling the new QAIC Studio that will function as a recording hub for our virtual Expressions Art & Culture Talk series and be home to our "A Slice of QAIC" podcast that will feature exciting new creatives and established contemporary artists. In order to mark the Qatar-USA 2021 Year of Culture, QAIC's headquarters will feature two large banners that will drape the facade of our new home announcing the arrival of this exciting year and QAIC's mission. We hope you will be able to join us in our new home and take part in our central tenets of connecting creatives, convening communities, and celebrating culture. |
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| | |  | The QAIC PostScript initiative provides aspiring authors and writers the opportunity to share their unique perspectives on cultural and social topics relevant to QAIC’s mission for publication in our new quarterly A2Q magazine. The call for submission for April, May, and June will be focused on our selected themes for these months: Performing Arts (theatre, music, dance), Museums, and Environment & Sustainability, respectively. Contributors can range from established analysts, aspiring scholars, or students. If you would like to submit an original piece for publication, please closely follow our submission guidelines and submit it through the form on our website. |
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| | Four Arab American Plays In honor of Arab American Heritage Month and QAIC’s theme of the month, Performing Arts, we are featuring Four Arab American Plays as our book of the month. This published collection of plays by four contemporary Arab American playwrights also features a preface by Arab American scholar Michael Malek Najjar. Leila Buck's ISite invites the audience on an intimate journey in search of identity, home, and the space in between. Jamil Khoury's drama Precious Stones boldly examines the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the "safe" yet turbulent terrain of the American Diaspora. Yussef El Guindi's Our Enemies: Lively Scenes of Love and Combat is a darkly humorous and sensual look at identity, media representation, love, and lust in the Arab American community. In Lameece Issaq and Jacob Kader's Food and Fadwa, a Palestinian family living under occupation fights to hold onto their culture and traditions while still celebrating love, joy, and hope. The book is available for purchase here. |
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| | | |  | Become a Sponsor As a sponsor, QAIC can continue to develop meaningful expressions and experiences, functioning as a bridge spanning the cultures of the United States, Qatar, and the larger Arab and Islamic worlds. It is through the continued support from sponsors that QAIC is able to create inclusive experiences that highlight humanity’s similarities while delighting in the diversity of our differences, thus improving cross-cultural understanding. It is with your contribution that together we can create impact by giving QAIC the resources to become a trusted partner and art and culture catalyst by increasing awareness, creating harmony, and fostering human creativity in society in multiple ways. |
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 | Join Our Community As a member, you become part of the extended QAIC family. With this annual membership, you will receive a more involved QAIC experience complete with additional in-depth content and unique offerings catered to our members. These offerings include priority access to exclusive engagements with featured guests, intimate receptions with visiting artists, and other annual benefits to better serve you as a platform for cultural and creative enrichment. |
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| | | | | The Qatar America Institute for Culture (QAIC) is an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that creates, curates, and executes programs and research that amplify the prominence of all forms of art and culture from the United States, Qatar, and the larger Arab and Islamic worlds. |
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