Artdayme: The Fire Station: Artist in Residence unveiled yesterday “The Present: The Future of the Past,” an exhibit featuring works by 31 alumni of Qatar Museums’ Artist-in-Residence (AIR) programme.

The exhibit, hosted in Garage Gallery 3 and 4 and will run until December 16, showcases art pieces produced during the 2021-2022 (AIR 6) and 2022-2023 (AIR 7) residency periods. By offering insights into artists’ creative processes, from conception to realisation, the exhibit presents a diverse range of media that result in thought-provoking artworks.

The Fire Station’s AIR programme, spanning nine months, empowers Qatar’s artists across disciplines. This nurturing environment provides well-equipped studios, access to facilities like a fabrication lab and wood shop, as well as guidance from experts.

Fire Station Director, Khalifa Ahmad Al Obaidli stressed how the exhibit embodies the programme’s essence, nurturing local talent and enriching Qatar’s art scene. “The Present: The Future of the Past exhibition truly embodies the essence of our Artist in Residence programme at the Fire Station. Our residency programme plays a vital role in supporting Qatar’s art scene, fostering local talent, and cultivating a thriving creative community.”

“As an integral component of Qatar Museums’ Creative Hubs, we actively contribute to the vision of creating a strong and sustainable cultural infrastructure, which is instrumental in shaping the future of art in our nation. We invite everyone to join us at Fire Station to explore the captivating works of these artists.” Fire Station Exhibition Curator, Saida Al Khulaifi, spoke about the transformative power of artistic processes.

“This exhibition embraces the power and potential of the artistic process. From what is often a seemingly simple beginning, a concept can undergo a wondrous transformation, from an intangible thought to a concrete visual or audio presentation that can connect profoundly with the viewer.” Speaking with reporters, Al Khulaifi noted the pronounced diversity of exhibited artworks, aligning with the programme’s ethos of fostering experimentation among participating artists. “We always encourage them to be experimental, to think outside the box, to try different mediums, materials, something that they have never worked with before, hence, they pushed themselves and tried whether it’s their own medium or a different method of display.”

Moreover, she explained that notably, participants from backgrounds such as music, graphic design, and filmmaking have harnessed their expertise in the pursuit of crafting gallery-ready artworks, effectively translating their knowledge and experiences into tangible artistic creations.

“The Present: The Future of the Past” serves as a bridge between artists’ personal experiences in studios and their displayed artworks, intertwining creative processes with final results.

This exhibition unravels layers of creative processes, revealing fragments of studio practices and finished works by local artists who participated in the 2021-2023 AIR programme at the Fire Station. The display spans a variety of mediums, including paintings, sculptures, videos, sounds, and installations.