(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Joelyn Baluyut |The Peninsula
Doha, Qatar: The Qatar Blueprint, a comprehensive initiative aimed at national development, extends beyond the walls of museums and the cultural sector, encompassing the entire country.
This was said by Fatma Ibrahim Al Sehlawi, Co-Founder of Atlas Bookstore, Studio Imara and leading the Qatar Blueprint project at the Office of H E Chairperson of Qatar Museums during the latest episode of“The Power of Culture” podcast hosted by Qatar Museums Chairperson, H E Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad Al Thani.
Al Sehlawi stressed that the blueprint encompasses the entirety of Qatar, inviting diverse entities to collaborate on national development initiatives.
“We're not only doing this for museums or the cultural sector. We're actually looking at the country as a whole, the map of Qatar, and not specific areas that are designated to Qatar Museums. So, it's going to be a very interesting moment where everyone will have time again to think, brainstorm and discuss before we sort of start running and delivering and executing.”
“And it's very important that we do this with the different entities in the country, from the public sector, private sector, who have now become very interested in working with us and have started to understand that what we want to do is beyond just looking within the walls of our museums.”
Highlighting the tangible outcomes of the Qatar Blueprint, Sheikha Al Mayassa mentioned several successful executions, including zoning initiatives, the revitalisation of heritage villages like Ain Mohammed near Al Zubarah – the country's largest heritage site, and the installation of public art across different locales.
Explaining the rationale behind integrating heritage preservation with contemporary art and private-public partnerships, Al Sehlawi elaborated on the potential of such synergies. She noted the revitalisation efforts in northern Qatar, citing the Northern Heritage Sites project as a prime example. This initiative not only showcases Qatar's diverse landscapes but also unlocks economic opportunities and enhances community well-being.
Al Sehlawi outlined the genesis of the Qatar Blueprint, which stemmed from a directive by Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to explore alternative approaches to national activation. The absence of predefined guidelines prompted the team to adopt a holistic perspective, challenging conventional perceptions of Qatar as a monolithic entity centred around Doha. Instead, the blueprint acknowledges the diversity of Qatar's municipalities and aims to leverage their unique attributes for comprehensive development.
Meanwhile, on the survey findings, Al Sehlawi highlighted the multifaceted nature of Qatar's landscape, encompassing varied topographies and historical narratives. From the fertile farmlands of the north to the industrial hubs and coastal heritage trails, each municipality has cultural and economic opportunities waiting to be explored.
“The discoveries that we came out with were incredible, whether it's about the people in each zone or each municipality, whether it's about the natural settings there, the industrial settings, the north. We became very interested in the north because we saw the amount of farmlands there and the productivity in the north. But that's also where the main gas plant, LNG plant is.”“So [that's] another type of productivity. But then there's a lot of history there. The trail of heritage sites and the coastal trail of heritage villages that said something about how people lived and how people dealt with food security as well, how they were connected to wells and how the coastal areas were connected to inland farms.”
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