Doha, Qatar: Years of Culture, in collaboration with Qatar Museums and Katara Cultural Village, opened Dialogue of Papers at Katara Cultural Village.
The opening was attended by HE Syahda Guruh Langkah Samudera, Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to the State of Qatar; Sheikh Abdulaziz Al-Thani, Director of the National Museum of Qatar; Mohammed Zaidan Al Zaidan, Deputy CEO for Support Affairs, Qatar Museums; and Saif Saad Al Dosari, Deputy General Manager of Katara and Director of the Human Resources Department, alongside participating artists, cultural partners and guests. The exhibition will remain on view until October 4, 2026.
The exhibition brings two chapters of the project together in Doha, tracing its development from an artistic collaboration between Qatar and Japan to a wider exploration of papermaking and cultural identity involving Indonesia. Through handmade paper, natural fibres, calligraphy and collaborative making, the participating artists demonstrate how a material shared across cultures can carry distinctly local histories while creating space for new forms of expression.
Dialogue of Papers began in 2022, when Years of Culture revisited Qatar’s relationship with Japan, its first partner country in 2012, to mark 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two nations. Qatari artist Yousef Ahmad and Japanese artist Hayaki Nishigaki worked together in Ahmad’s Doha studio, combining pulp from Qatar’s palm trees with Japanese kozo fibres. The resulting handmade paper became the foundation for 28 collaborative works bringing Arabic and Japanese calligraphy, symbols and imagery into conversation. The works were subsequently presented at 3331 Arts Chiyoda in Tokyo.
The project evolved during the Qatar–Indonesia 2023 Year of Culture, when Indonesian artist Widi Pangestu joined Ahmad for a residency and collaborative workshop in Doha. Drawing on the contrasting environments of Qatar and Indonesia, the artists combined Qatari palm with Indonesian abaca and mulberry fibres to create 36 works exploring how different landscapes like deserts and forests shape people’s lives and creativity. The resulting exhibition was presented at the Emiria Soenassa Gallery at Taman Ismail Marzuki in Jakarta.
Dr. Aisha Abdullah Al Misnad, curator of Dialogue of Papers, said, “The founding idea for the project was that paper is never merely a surface. It carries the landscape from which it is made, the knowledge of the person who makes it and the visual traditions of the artist who works on it. Bringing the Japanese and Indonesian chapters together in Doha allows audiences to see how that dialogue has developed and acquired new meanings over time.”
Salem Mabkhout Al Marri, Director of Public Relations and Communications Department at Katara Cultural Village Foundation, said, “Katara is pleased to collaborate with Years of Culture to present Dialogue of Papers. The exhibition reflects our commitment to providing a meeting place for artists, ideas and cultural traditions from around the world. We look forward to welcoming audiences to discover the connections these artists have created between Qatar, Japan and Indonesia.”
At the centre of both collaborations is Yousef Ahmad’s longstanding investigation into paper made from Qatar’s palm trees. Ahmad began experimenting with paper as an artistic medium in the 1980s and later developed his own handmade palm paper, connecting his practice more closely to Qatar’s land, natural materials and personal memory.
Dr. Aisha added, “By bringing these bodies of work together, Dialogue of Papers demonstrates how relationships formed through Years of Culture continue to generate new artistic encounters long after an official programme year has concluded. What began as an exchange between two artists and two papermaking traditions has developed into an evolving platform through which artists from different partner countries can investigate material, identity and common ground.”
