On the trail of artistic inspiration at QF

The “tree” of artwork within Doha’s state-of-the-art Sidra Medicine hospital has been opened up to the public through the latest edition of Qatar Foundation’s Art Trail initiative.

Visitors had the chance to explore pieces by artists including Damien Hirst – whose installation ‘The Miraculous Journey’, a set of sculptures chronicling the gestation of a fetus from conception to birth, stands at the front of the hospital – and Japan’s Takashi Murakami, as well as Qatari photographer Moudhi Al Hajri.

The artwork on display at Sidra Medicine represents Qatar Foundation’s (QF) biggest collection of pieces in one building, and also includes the work of Qatari artist Ali Hassan. The hospital is one of the venues for the Art Trail program, a regular series of tours that showcase art across Education City, inspiring cultural appreciation and creativity within Qatar’s community.

During the Sidra Medicine tour, QF art specialist Layla Bacha explained how the positioning of artwork throughout the building can be likened to a tree, with the pieces on the ground floor representing roots, those on its second and third floors reflecting leaves, and the art on upper floors representing the sky.

Among those participating in the tour was Godana Popovic, from Croatia, who was struck by Al Hajri’s work. Al Hajri trained as a biologist and says her work aims to reflect what she once viewed through a microscope, symbolizing “the life that exists within each human”.

“The artist seems to capture life itself,” said Popovic. “I feel it’s real, and its message is that there is hope in life. The colors create a vivid abstract that is very powerful.”

Further Art Trail tours are scheduled at the Biznest building (Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar) on November 2, Qatar National Library on November 16, the Humanitarium building (Georgetown University in Qatar) on November 30, and Northwestern University in Qatar’s Media Majlis and Media Innovation Lab on November 23. There will also be a guided tour of the Experience Tanzania photo exhibition at Multaqa (Education City Student Center) on October 26. For more details and to register, email qftrail@qf.org.qa.