The Cultural Village Foundation – Katara recently inaugurated the Islamic Art Collection exhibition displaying the private collection of Engineer Ibrahim Fakhroo, on the occasion of the International Day of Islamic Art, which falls on November 18 of each year.
The exhibition is being held while observing the precautionary measures in the country and approved by the health authorities, represented by the Ministry of Public Health and its supporting bodies to ensure public safety, and in order to prevent the spread of the Covid-19.
The International Islamic Art Day, which was announced during the fortieth session of the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) in 2019, aims to increase awareness of the historical and contemporary artistic expression of Islam, and highlight the contributions of Islamic art to civilisation.
In a speech on the sidelines of the exhibition, which will continue until November 26, Director-General of Katara Dr Khaled bin Ibrahim al-Sulaiti, affirmed the Foundation’s keen attention to introduce, through this art exhibition, the great role that Islamic art has played in global civilisation.
This art has produced a civilised dialogue between different cultures, adhering to its identity and cultural specificity, Dr al-Sulaiti said pointing out that art is one of the important means of communication and rapprochement between cultures.
Secretary-General of the Qatar National Commission for Education, Culture and Science Dr Hamda Hassan al-Sulaiti praised the great role played by the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ICESCO), Katara, the Ministries of Culture, Sports, Education and Higher Education and the Qatar Museums Authority in supporting and promoting Islamic art as the vehicle that carries the cultural identity among the cultures of the countries of the world.
Islamic art has proven throughout the ages that Islam values art, as long as it is not a means of polytheism and corruption, she said, stressing that Islamic art has occupied a large area of intellectual discussions and deliberations, given that it is one of the topics that are hardly indispensable for anyone working in art and who are interested in it such as thinkers or educators, as it is the embodiment of the epistemological vision of Islam and a landmark of culture in it.
On the contents of the exhibition, engineer Fakhroo said that they are divided into four groups: manuscripts, weapons and daggers, ceramic and textiles.

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