Qatar UK artists' exchange residency

As part of

qataruk2013.com/about-us" target="_blank">QatarUK 2013 - a year of events supported by the Qatar Museums Authority and the British Council that aims to celebrate and develop the relationship between the two countries - four UCL Slade School of Fine Art graduates went to Qatar for a four-week residency in November 2013.

The four visual artists, Robert Crosse, Jennifer Martin, Hannah Shin and Zoe Shoenherr, worked alongside four local emerging Qatari artists. They used studio space at the Msheireb Arts Centre (MAC) to produce new work, exhibited at Katara Arts Centre, Qatar, and curated by selected students enrolled in the Museum & Gallery Practice MA at UCL Qatar.

The aims of the project were:

• To foster collaboration and discussion between the two groups of artists from the UK and Qatar, by creating an opportunity for the artists to share their practices and exchange ideas through dialogue, discussion and through making and exhibiting work.
• To develop cultural exchange and collaboration in Qatar at a grass roots level.
• To develop long-term cultural relations between the Slade school of Fine Art, UCL, and UCL Qatar.

Zoe Shoenherr (UCL Slade 2012) said of the experience, "During my stay in Qatar, I met a number of amazing Qatari people, worked with a marble site, was introduced to curators and invited by UCL Qatar to the excavation site that was once the old Pearling city, Zubarah. The experiences and conversations with people in Qatar not only informed the show in Katara but will hold a lasting influence within future work."

The project was organised by Slade alumnus, Ben Barbour, and Slade Lecturer, Andrew Stahl. Stahl explained, "The most important aspect of the residency was the interaction between the Qatari artists and the Slade artists. Our intention is to create a return residency here in the near future hopefully at the UCL Slade Research Centre in London for the same participants."

You can read more about the artists involved and view more pictures of the exhibition on the QatarUK 2013 website.

The exhibition will be held at 13, gallery 2, Katara Cultural Village, Doha, Qatar, until 20th December.