Katara Mosque Doha Katara Cultural Village Plaza 1

Katara Cultural Village (), also known simply as Katara (), is a cultural and commercial complex in

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

, located on the eastern coast between West Bay and the Pearl. It was soft-opened in October 2010 during the

Doha Tribeca Film Festival The Doha Tribeca Film Festival (DTFF) was an annual five-day film festival that was organised from 2009 to 2012 to promote Arab and international films, and to develop a sustainable film industry in Qatar. One of Qatar's largest entertainment event ...

Overview

The complex comprises an open

amphitheater An amphitheatre ( U.S. English: amphitheater) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ('), meaning "place for vie ...

, an opera house, a multi-purpose cinema, a multi-purpose conference hall, a beach (named Katara Beach), and a souq. A museum showcasing the country's maritime heritage was opened in November 2015. It is also the site of AlBahie Auction House. It includes a open-air shopping mall equipped with outdoor air conditioning, named 21 High St ("Katara Plaza" during development). The complex is also host to a variety of different exhibitions, festivals, workshops, lectures, concerts and religious activities. The buildings and facilities at Katara were deliberately arranged in order to reflect the country's cultural and architectural heritage.

Cultural organizations

Katara hosts the following cultural organizations: *Al Gannas Association, an organization for hunting and falconry. *Al Bahie Auction House, dedicating to

auction An auction is usually a process of Trade, buying and selling Good (economics), goods or Service (economics), services by offering them up for Bidding, bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from th ...

ing works of art. *Arab Postal Stamp Museum, a museum covering the postal history of 22 countries. *Bedaya Center, a career center dedicating to helping young Qataris find employment. *Brooq Magazine, a monthly cultural magazine established in 2003. *

Doha Film Institute Doha Film Institute (DFI) is a nonprofit cultural organisation established in 2010 by Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani to support the growth of the Qatari film community and to provide funding and international networking oppo ...

, a film production company that promotes local and regional filmmakers. *Forum of Arabic and International Relations, a cultural organization formed to promote intraregional relations and dialogue. *Katara Art Center, an art center founded in 2012. *Katara Art Studios, an organization that holds art workshops and organizes local art-related events. *Katara Beach Club, a sports and wellness club. *Katara Planetarium, a

planetarium A planetarium (: planetariums or planetaria) is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation. A dominant feature of most planetariums is ...

which has a capacity for 200 viewers and boasts a 22-meter display. *Poet Majles, a center dedicated to Arabic poetry. *Qatar Fine Arts Association, one the oldest artist societies in the country. *Qatar Music Academy, a government-sanctioned academy that trains students in music. *

Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra The Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra (QPO), a member of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, was founded in 2007 by Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, the then Emir of Qatar's consort. The orchestra performs both Weste ...

, an orchestra that performs both western and Arabic music. *Qatar Museums Gallery-Katara. *Sout Al Khaleej, an Arabic-language public radio station. *Visual Art Center, which showcases the work of local artists and holds educational workshops. *Youth Hobbies Center, a youth center that holds workshops on activities such as photography, stamp collecting, animation and video games.

Cultural awards

Launched in 2014,

Katara Prize for Arabic Novel The Katara Prize for Arabic Novel is an Arabic literary prize based in Qatar. It was established in 2014 by the Doha-based Katara Cultural Village. The total prize pool is $650,000 and the main prize $200,000, making it one of the richest liter ...

is an annual award organized by Katara that celebrates distinguished Arab novelists. It has a total prize pool of $650,000 and a main prize of $200,000, making it one of the richest literary prizes in the world. The prize aims to consolidate the presence of distinguished Arab novels on the global stage. The 2020 edition saw the launch of the magazine ''Sardiyat'', the first international peer-reviewed magazine issued by Katara. Additionally, four periodical books specialised in

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

s were inaugurated in 2020.

Events

Fath Al Kheir journey

Fath Al Kheir journey is a voyage organized by Katara management to promote Qatar's maritime heritage. The first voyage took place in the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

from 22 November to 18 December, 2013. A second voyage was launched on 6 October, 2015. The ship was crewed by 40 Qataris in traditional attire and sailed around the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea () is a region of sea in the northern Indian Ocean, bounded on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel, on the northwest by Gulf of Oman and Iran, on the north by Pakistan, on the east by India, and ...

, with the key destinations being

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The Indian ambassador to Qatar hailed it as a milestone in the countries' bilateral relations

Katara Art Forum

A two-day discussion forum for the arts was inaugurated in Katara in 2014. An annual event, the forum features international and local researchers who deliver speeches on topics such as the history of Arab art and Arab art groups.

Aida

In October 2012, an event featuring

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for List of compositions by Giuseppe Verdi, his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma ...

's classic opera ''

Aida ''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is a tragic opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 De ...

'' was hosted in Katara's amphitheatre. It was the first opera to be held in Qatar. The

were featured in the opera, alongside at least 80 singers and 35 actors.

2021 FIFA Arab Cup Draw

The group stage draw for the

2021 FIFA Arab Cup The 2021 FIFA Arab Cup () was the 10th edition of the FIFA Arab Cup, Arab Cup, the Arab world's national team Association football, football tournament; it was the first edition under FIFA's jurisdiction, with previous editions having been organi ...

took place on 27 April 2021 at the Katara's opera house.

UK Festival

The UK Festival was held in parts at the Katara Cultural Village since their 5th edition in 2020. In 2022 the Village also signed an agreement with the organiser British Council Qatar to cooperate on future events.

S'hail

The S'hail falcon exhibition is one of largest exhibitions for falconry and hunting and has been held at the Katara Cultural Village since 2017. The festivals featured falcons from local and international breeders, as well as veterinary clinics, booths for falcon-related goods and events like the simulated air gun event.

X Series 19 – Qatar: The Supercard

The open workouts and weigh-ins for the MF & DAZN: X Series 19 – Qatar: The Supercard bout in

was heled at the amphitheater on 26 and 27 November 2024.

Qatar International Art Festival

The Qatar International Art Festival was first held at Katara in 2019, after the first edition took place at the Doha Fire Station a year prior. Since then it has been held at Katara in 2021, 2022 and 2024.

Transport

Katara can be reached on the Red Line of the Doha Metro through Katara station. The station was opened to the public on 10 December 2019 along with three other Red Line stations, over six months after the opening of the line's first 13 stations. Facilities in the station include a prayer room and restrooms.

Development projects

Doha Bay Doha Bay is the semicircular bay bordering Qatar's capital city, Doha. The city was established on the south bank of the bay.

crossing (also known as Sharq Crossing) is a causeway between 600 m and 1,300 m which will link

Hamad International Airport Hamad International Airport (, ') is an international airport in Qatar, and the home base of the national flag carrier airline, Qatar Airways. Located east of the capital, Doha, it replaced the nearby Doha International Airport as Qatar's prin ...

with Katara. It was originally set for completion by 2021.

Management

Dr. Khalid Bin Ibrahim Al-Sulaiti has been the General Manager of Katara since 2012.

Gallery

File:Overview of buildings and a water stream in Katara cultural village.jpg, Overhead view of buildings at Katara cultural village. File:Traditional buildings at Katara at night.jpg, A pair of

dovecote A dovecote or dovecot , doocot (Scots Language, Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house Domestic pigeon, pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or b ...

s in Katara. File:KataraVillageAmphitheater.jpg, The amphitheater in Katara.

References

External links