Qatar and Mexico: exchanging art, culture and colours

* Qonexion initiates annual Artist in Residence Programme, inviting Qatari artists to apply and reflect on their practices under specific conceptual framework inspired by Mexico

 

Whether you identify as a 'capital A' artist or are just a curious someone looking to try your hand more at creativity, this might be your calling.Qonexion, a community-based project focused on connecting and fostering creative entrepreneurs between Mexico and Qatar through an intercultural exchange of talent, art production, artistic methodologies and business opportunities, has initiated the annual Artist in Residence Programme. It invites Qatari artists to apply and reflect on their practices under a specific conceptual framework inspired by Mexico.The programme encompasses multiple avenues of expressions. The programme is open not just to painters of different mediums but also photographers, filmmakers, fashion, graphic, interior or industrial designers or urban planners and architects. Three selected applicants will travel to Mexico, being provided with flight tickets, accommodation, a studio space, mentoring and art supplies allowance in order to fully engage in their projects and develop their craft and artistic methodologies in a professional and multicultural environment.Conducted fully in English, in addition to critical mentorship sessions, cultural tourism activities around Mexico will be provided as a platform for inspiration and exchange with other cultural spaces.Apart from the layered complexity of paintings – how it pulls you in with beauty or technique or vibrant colours, the programme aims to introduce and showcase Qatari artists to the Latin American market and to initiate business opportunities and facilitate networking between creatives of both regions.The selected residents will be assessed against several criteria by a panel of judges representing Qonexion and its partners. Applicants will be assessed on criteria, including creativity, sustainable and socially responsible, whether the artwork is sustainably designed, how does it aim to represent Mexico's cultural values and heritage, quality of the artwork and quality of the application.As creativity goes, one's artistic evolution often roots itself in the deeper belonging for identity and community. In this Artist in Residence Programme, three artists will be tasked to portray the connection between the people, places and spaces of the visited country, researching how they engage and interact and how they develop emotional connection to the settings they inhabit and occupy.Throughout the content development stage, the three artists will capture in real life and interpret how Mexicans experience their exterior and interior environments, as well as their social and built surroundings. The artwork developed will be showcased in Doha. The last date for the submission of applications is April 30. The form can be accessed at https://qonexion.com/application-form/