Center for International and Regional Studies

American Arts Festival Photography Week
2007-02-25 11:00 - 2007-02-28 21:00 (Europe/Moscow)
From 16 February to 8 March 2007, the Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS) in Doha sponsored a series of programs on the American arts, entitled the American Arts Festival. The Center at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar (SFS-Qatar), conducts programs of scholarship, research, and public outreach in the fields of international and regional affairs. CIRS keeps in touch with its surrounding environment by providing various cultural and educational programs that communicate with both the local population and the larger international arena.

Prior to 1940, the United States was a predominantly rural nation. After the U.S. Civil War (1861-1865) industrialization and the movement of peoples, both internal migrations and immigration into the United States, changed the face of America. Rapid industrialization created a need for an unskilled labor force that drew people to America’s cities. During the same period, photography emerged as an important form of artistic expression. The growing middle class in America provided an audience and patrons for this bold new vision, while the grace and chaos of urbanization inspired artists to document these cities and the people who made them so vibrant. What has survived is an elegant record of a nation experiencing the growing pains of entering the industrial world. Qatar is poised at the same moment in its history growth and we hope that by giving you this glimpse into the history of the American city the similarities and differences can contribute to our mutual understanding.

Photographs depicting the American City from 1880 to 1950 were on display at Landmark Center throughout the American Arts Festival. A lecture by Sam Abell, National Geographic Photographer, as well as workshops by Georgetown University faculty, and members of the Qatar Photographic Society was offered.

Photography Competition:

The Photography Section of the American Arts Festival also featured a photography competition that was open to the public. This was a unique opportunity for those interested in the art of photography to actively take part in the fulfillment of that dream and to present their work to their fellow colleagues and to professionals of the field. Sam Abell, National GeographicPhotographer, formed part of the judging panel for the photography competition and was there to offer advice and support to those taking part in this prestigious event. Submissions were accepted between 15 November 2006 and 8 February 2007.

Photography Week Participant Biographies:

Sam Abell is a veteran National Geographic photographer and one of only four staff photographers in the history of the magazine. The archetypal National Geographic photojournalist, Abell’s work often tells evocative stories of time and place: Lewis and Clark, the Mississippi River, the Amazon, Australia, and Japan’s Imperial Palace. Most recently he told his own story in his book Sam Abell: The Photographic Life. His photographs capture the beauty of both culture and nature. He has photographed dozens of stories, authored award-winning books, and shown his work worldwide. Abell shares the excitement, intrigue, frustration, heartbreak, and joy of spending 35 years on assignment around the world for the world’s most trusted magazine.

Khalifa Al-Obaidly is an artistic photographer. In 1993 he received a degree in Marine Biology from Qatar University which spurred his interest in underwater photography. He served as Director of the Qatar Photography Museum and worked on building their collection. He constantly challenges the medium of photography and pushes its boundaries with new and unique techniques and designs. Currently he is Head of PR at the Civil Aviation Authority.

Kate Sampsell-Willmann, a U.S. intellectual and social historian and a fine art photographer, received her Ph.D. (with distinction) from Georgetown University in 2002, her J.D. from the University of Baltimore School of Law in 1991. She is the author of If I Could Tell This Story in Words . . . : Lewis W. Hine and the Intellectual History of Social Documentaryforthcoming from The University of North Carolina Press, “‘Three Generations of Grass’: Photography, Liberalism, and the American Yeoman,” History of Photography (Dec. 2003), and “Ellis Island and Lewis Hine’s Lived Experience: Photographs as Ideas” forthcoming from The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. Dr. Sampsell-Willmann is currently a member of the history faculty at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar and has also taught American history in Turkey and the U.A.E.

Abir Al Kuwwari was the first member of the Qatar Photographic Society in 1988. Her photographs focus on nature, still-life and children. Her talent lies in her ability to bring profound meaning to the simple and the everyday, where she captures her subject matters in their natural environment. She has exhibited her work in various indoor and outdoor events and has won several awards.

American Arts Festival Poetry Week
2007-02-19 08:00 - 2007-02-22 18:00
From 16 February to 8 March 2007, the Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS) in Doha sponsored a series of programs on the American arts, entitled the American Arts Festival. The Center at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar (SFS-Qatar), conducts programs of scholarship, research, and public outreach in the fields of international and regional affairs. CIRS keeps in touch with its surrounding environment by providing various cultural and educational programs that communicate with both the local population and the larger international arena.

Many cultures, including Arab and Middle Eastern cultures, have understood poetry as their most intimate source of identity; so much so that sharing one’s poetry amounts to sharing oneself. But this access to proximity or intimacy is not without difficulties. How can we translate poetry from one language into another, from one culture into another? And still, the 13th century Muslim poet Jalal-ad-Din Rumi is one of the most popular poets in 21st century America. This suggests that poetry might be the best means of crossing cultural boundaries, while being also perhaps the most arduous.

The American Arts Festival featured American poetry, which spanned the songs of Native American shamans to the contemporary lyrics of people celebrating their diverse origins and their common destiny. Can American and Arab poetry mirror each other, enrich each other, and converge in expressing universal aspirations? Our series of poetry readings, workshops, lectures, discussions, and panels of American and Qatari poets, explored these questions and others.

Poetry Week Participant Biographies:

Robert Pinsky served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1997 until 2000. Pinsky is an ambassador for poetry and the founder of the Favorite Poem Project, where the American public is given the opportunity to share their favorite poems. In addition to being a distinguished poet, Pinsky is an editor, essayist, teacher and translator. Robert Pinsky’s translation of The Inferno of Dante is a best-seller that has received the Los Angeles Times Book Award and the Howard Morton Landon Prize for translation.

Peter Fortunato is a graduate of Cornell University, with a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. He has taught at Cornell Summer College and at Ithaca College for many years. Mr. Fortunato is a poet and performer and the founder of two poetry and performance theater groups in the US – Spideroot Theater and Spirit Horses. He has published collections of poetry, essays and short stories, and worked as a holistic counselor and life coach. His awards include the Emily Dickinson Prize of the Poetry Society of America and the Pablo Neruda Prize of the Oklahoma Arts Council.

Mohammed Al-Odadi received his Ph.D. in Linguistics from Georgetown University in Wahington DC in 1996. He then moved back to Saudi Arabia, his native country, where he has taught at the Faculty of Languages and Translation, King Khalid University, Abha. He compiled and translated into English poems by HRH Prince Khalid Al Faisal Al-Saud, entitledFires of Love & Mirages of Time: Vernacular Poetry of Saudi Arabia (Barzan Publishing Ltd., 2004).

Roger Bensky, professor of French at Georgetown University, specializes in modern theater. His fields of interest include mysticism, principally Kabbalah. Published works include two books on the symbolism and thematics of puppetry (Nizet, Paris), articles in major French reviews on contemporary dramatists (Beckett, Ionesco, Dubillard, Gatti, Benedetto) and directors (Lavelli, Lassalle, Mesguich, Marechal, Lavaudant).

Amira El-Zein of Tufts University is a translator and published poet. She received her Ph.D. in Arabic language and literature from Georgetown in 1995. Dr. El Zein has published and lectured extensively in Arabic, French, and English on topics ranging from medieval and modern Arabic thought, to Francophone literature, to comparative mysticism, and comparative folklore. Her last book of poetry, The Jinn and Other Poems has just been published by Arrowsmith Publishers in Cambridge, Boston, MA.

Ahmed Abdul-Malik is a writer and visiting lecturer at Qatar University. He received his Ph.D in Journalism from the University of Wales, UK in 1989. Dr Abul-Malik has extensive experience in media and journalism. He has held different positions in Qatar TV and was Editor-in-chief of the English daily (Gulf Times), and the Arabic daily (Al- Sharq). Moreover, he was the Director of Media Department at the Gulf Countries Council (GCC) General Secretariat. He was also the Media Advisor to the Islamic Summit General Coordinator. He has published a variety of professional, social, and literary books.

Zakia Ali Malallah is a Qatari poet, writer and author. She received her Ph.D in Pharmacy from Cairo University in 1990. Currently, Dr. Malallah works for the National Health Authority and also writes for the Al Watan newspaper. She is a member of the National Council for Arts, Culture and Heritage in Qatar. Dr. Malallah has many poetry and translation publications and has received awards for her work including the King Khalid Prize for poetry.

Hessa Al Awadi is a Qatari poet, playwright and author. She has published six volumes of poetry and numerous illustrated books of poetry and short stories aimed at entertaining and educating children and young readers. Al Awadi’s work appears in both English and Arabic.

Ali Mirza is a Qatari artist, and poet. He has acted in, produced and directed numerous plays and has published many volumes of poetry. He is a founding member of the theater movement in Qatar in 1970. He currently heads the Department of Play script and Programs evaluation Department at Qatar television.

American Arts Festival Opening Ceremony
2007-02-16 08:00 - 18:00
From 16 February to 8 March 2007, the Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS) in Doha sponsored a series of programs on the American arts, entitled the American Arts Festival. The Center at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar (SFS-Qatar), conducts programs of scholarship, research, and public outreach in the fields of international and regional affairs. CIRS keeps in touch with its surrounding environment by providing various cultural and educational programs that communicate with both the local population and the larger international arena.

The Opening Ceremony of the American Arts Festival took place on February 16, 2007 at Al Bidaa Park on the Corniche Road in Doha. The Ceremony was open to the public.The American Arts Festival 2007 was designed to provide an opportunity for Qatar, and the region, to experience and engage with different aspects of American culture through its arts. The festival focused on three areas: poetry, photography and jazz. Each program included multiple activities over a number of days. All three programs were designed to present — through performance, lectures, and discussion — the art-form in question; to show what the American expression of this art form reveals about American history, culture and society; and to engage and promote dialogue with Qatari and Arab artists and students of art.James Reardon-Anderson, Dean of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar, gave the welcome speech and introduced the Keynote Speakers Abdulla Al Thani from Qatar Foundation, Aisha Al Thani from Reach Out to Asia (ROTA), and US Ambassador to Qatar Chase Untermeyer.
