HE the Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage, Dr. Hamad Bin Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari launched yesterday, Wednesday 25 December 2013 in Qatar National Theater the activities of the 2nd GCC Musical Arts Festival which will continue until next Sunday.

During the event's opening address, the Minister of Culture said, “this festival comes in the context of a series of diverse cultural festivals and events held recently in Doha, which shed light on the importance of arts such as theater, music and singing in our life.” He also stressed that the attention paid to these arts emphasizes our Arab cultural identity and our pride of our cultural heritage.

He added that Doha hosted at the beginning of this month the 22nd conference of the Arab Academy of Music during which several important recommendations emanated  with the aim of developing the Arabic music, noting that the GCC Musical Arts Festival comes to consolidate this orientation and to express the cohesion and the integrity between the GCC countries, the thing that emphasizes the common desire to preserve the Arab and Gulf musical heritage.

HE the Minister of Culture stressed that the attention paid to music, singing and to the all other arts which represent an element of the overall cultural system is a part of the major interests of Qatar National Vision 2030 and the national strategy 2011 – 2016, pointing that the establishment of Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra and Qatar Music Academy are shining spots in the history of the music movement in Qatar. He also stressed that the Ministry of Culture shall spare no effort in providing the needed support for the musicians and all other artists in the other artistic fields in order to enable them to develop their potential, reveal their talents and benefit from the experiences of their predecessors. In this context, HE the Minister expressed his wish that the festival would achieve its goals and give birth to new recommendations that would contribute to strengthening cooperation in the field of art.

For his part, Mr. Abeed Al-Shamsi, Director of Culture Department at the GCC General Secretariat extended his sincere thanks to the State of Qatar for hosting the 2nd edition of the festival and commended the efforts made by the organizers of the festival to ensure the success of the different activities of this event, and, which would boost the joint cultural work in the Gulf. Al-Shamsi said that the importance of music lies in the fact that it was the language of all peoples over history, pointing that the art of music is the art of nature.

http://www.moc.gov.qa/English/news/Pages/Minister-of-Culture-launches-the-activities-of-the-2nd-GCC-Musical-Arts-Festival.aspx