The cultural relations between the State of Qatar and the Republic of Italy have a long history supported by strong roots in the past, distinguished partnerships in the present and heading towards a promising future under the patronage of the leaders of the countries in various fields of culture, education, arts and heritage.
For many years, Italian culture has been strongly present in Doha through exhibitions, workshops, museums and festivals. The Qatari culture, in turn, along with its great heritage, has been deeply present in the Italian culture arena.
One of the most prominent milestones of Qatari-Italian culture cooperation was Qatar's participation in the jury of the 42nd Giffoni Film Festival (GFF) in 2012 held in Italy, with the participation of judges from more than 50 countries around the globe. This initiative came within the cultural partnership between the Doha Film Institute (DFI) and GFF, which aims to increase cultural exchange through cinema and attract film lovers to participate and interact.
In turn, the Cultural Village Foundation (Katara) served as a way to introduce the Qatari public to various Italian arts, as the foundation screened the Italian film "Torneranno i prati" on the centenary of the beginning of World War I, which fell in 2014. The film depicts the Italian front's experience during World War I. The screening of this film was an important event at the time, as it was screened on the same night in Rome, as well as in 120 locations in 100 countries around the globe.
Souq Waqif Art Center has also been a platform for cultural exchange between Qatar and Italy, considering that it hosted many joint exhibitions between the two countries.
In 2015, HE Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of Qatar Museums Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad Al-Thani received the "StellaRe" Prize from the Italian contemporary art foundation, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, during a ceremony held in Turin, Italy. This honor came in appreciation of Her Excellency's distinguished contributions to supporting culture and society.
In the same year, the Art Lounge exhibition was held at the Qatar Pavilion at Expo Milan 2015, and it included 15 paintings presented by nine artists, in addition to 45 photographs presented by ten photographers.
In April 2023, HE Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of Qatar Museums Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad Al-Thani participated in a discussion session under the title "Heritage for Tomorrow," within the international conference "Art for Tomorrow," which was hosted by the Italian cities of Florence and Solomeo. The conference focused on ways in which institutions can preserve valuable cultural assets while addressing pressing challenges, such as tourism and climate change.
HE Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad Al-Thani participated alongside leading international speakers on the arts in this conference, which explored the social and economic impact of the arts.
Cultural cooperation between Qatar and Italy continues over time, embodying a unique model of bilateral relations between countries. Qatari-Italian relations are linked by a group of cultural agreements and memoranda of understanding, including the cultural cooperation agreement between the two countries, based on the two countries' mutual aspiration to strengthen friendly relations between them.
From this standpoint, the activation of the cultural cooperation agreement between the two countries was embodied in a large number of cultural and art events, whether in Qatar or in Italy, in addition to a cooperation between Qatar Museums and the Municipality of Venice.
The dialogues of Art for Tomorrow, organized by Qatar Museums and the Democracy and Culture Foundation, represent an ongoing partnership between the two sides, bringing together thinkers, artists and innovators.
Activities to be organized by Qatar Museums and the Municipality of Venice include exhibitions and seminars exploring the historical links between Italian and Islamic art and architecture, and the participation of artists from both sides in international festivals and exhibitions.
This partnership builds on the strong relationship between Qatar Museums and the Municipality of Venice, which has been established through a series of successful collaborations over the past two years.
Qatar Museums is currently displaying artwork that was lent to be showcased in the exhibition "Foreigners Everywhere," which is the main exhibition of the 60th International Art Exhibition at the Venice Biennale. This exhibition includes pieces from the Arab Museum of Modern Art's (Mathaf) collection of art. On view through Nov. 24, the exhibition is one of several Qatar Museums initiatives coinciding with the Venice Biennale.
In this context, DFI participated, through a number of films it supported, in the 81st edition of the Venice International Film Festival, which was held during the period of Aug. 28, 2024, until Sept. 7, 2024.
Within the common maritime heritage between the two countries, the Italian beaches were part of the voyages of Fateh Al-Khayr, which is organized by Katara.
The Italian publishing house, Almutawassit, also had a distinguished presence at the Doha International Book Fair (DIBF) in its 33rd edition, as the publishing house's publications included the fields of literature, thought and culture. Almutawassit was established late 2015 in Milan, Italy, as a project concerned with cultural exchange between the world's various civilizations and peoples. It began its journey by transferring knowledge, sciences and literature between the Arab world and Italy first, then extended to sharing literature between the Arab world and the rest of the world.
Italian culture is considered the collective heritage of self-knowledge about Italy, as Italy was the center of the Roman Empire and a point of intersection of Mediterranean civilizations, and the cradle of many artistic movements. Italy has been one of the most prosperous European cultural centers since ancient times.
From the point of view of cultural and artistic heritage, Italy is the country that collects the largest UNESCO human heritage, with 51 cultural and human archeological sites out of 1,052, or five percent of the world's cultural heritage.
