By Mario Figlioli for Kulassa, featured in Italian Gaze: Discovering Qatar

In the night of Doha, under a dome of artificial lights shining like stars, I found myself in Katara, a cultural oasis where the heart of Qatar beats in sync with the rhythms of art and music. It was not an ordinary evening; it promised a journey through time and cultures, a dialogue woven with threads of Turkish melodies and Qatari hospitality, a meeting of ancient and modern stories in the embrace of modernity.

Zehra Ozcelik and Umut Ozlu that night were not just performers; they were time travelers. Their instruments were keys that opened doors to centuries past; their music melted boundaries and epochs, connecting the here and now with the there and then, demonstrating, once again, that art knows no barriers.

Wandering through Katara, I stumbled upon Monica Bulanda, a Polish artist whose talent is as indisputable as her vision is limitless. Educated at the Academy of Fine Arts, she is a modern-day alchemist, transforming canvas and color into windows that overlook the world and into our souls.

Her dedication to the Arabian horse, a creature synonymous with grace and power, was not just an artistic choice but a statement. In her strokes, cultures met, danced, celebrated, and understood each other under the wide sky of Katara, which, despite the city’s brightness, was capable of telling its own stories.

The night unfolded like a tapestry of thoughts and melodies, intertwining the different threads of human experience through the weave of art and music. Katara revealed itself not just as a place, but as a moment in time where the world’s stories intertwined into a narrative of shared humanity.

Leaving Katara, the echoes of Turkish melodies and the vision of Bulanda’s art persisted in me, a testament to the magic of the night. Qatar, a crossroads of civilizations, once again proved itself as a beacon of cultural confluence, a place where discovery and wonder are just a heartbeat away.

With affection and respect,

Mario Figlioli

Writer’s Note:

With this article, I wanted to deeply immerse myself in the essence of a cultural and artistic encounter at Katara, the pulsating heart of art and music in Qatar. Through the exploration of music and art, I aim to demonstrate how these expressions can transcend cultural barriers, uniting people in a universal language of empathy, appreciation, and sharing. This story was born from the hope of inspiring readers to explore and appreciate the rich and varied fabric of cultures that enrich our experience. It’s an invitation to celebrate our differences and to recognize that, beneath these, we find common ground that unites us all as citizens of a shared world. “In Italian Gaze: Discovering Qatar,” the account of this particular evening stands out for the unifying assembly of different art forms and serves as a gentle reminder to remember that, beneath the myriad of our origins, lies common ground, a shared language spoken in the universal dialect of beauty and art. This journey through the musical and artistic landscape of Qatar is not merely the recounting of an event; it is a meditation on art’s ability to bridge divisions, foster understanding, and celebrate our collective identity. Through the lens of someone who has found a second home among the dunes and stars of Qatar, we are reminded that the true magic of culture lies in our willingness to listen, to observe, and to be moved by the stories of others, no matter how different they may appear.

Mario Figlioli