Every year Qatar runs a cultural exchange programme. Via a variety of exhibitions, festivals, competitions and events, different programmes promote mutual understanding, recognition and appreciation between the countries. A variety of people are invited to explore their cultural similarities, as well as their differences.The year 2019 is being celebrated as Qatar-India Year of Culture. The carefully curated programmes are especially designed to promote mutual understanding, recognition and appreciation between both sovereign nations. Under different programmes, audiences are invited in Qatar and India to explore their cultural similarities, as well as celebrate their differences.In this connection, the two-day-long ‘Qatar Cultural & Literature Festival’ (QCLF) is being organised at Katara on July 11-12. The festival is one of its kind events which is an amalgamation of cultures and literary scenario of the two countries – Qatar and India.The QCLF is being organised by Question Associates, a leading communication and entertainment company in India and Katara. The venue for the activities is Katara Drama Theatre – Building 16. Ruhi Ganguly is the producer of the festival and CEO of Question Associates.Many well-known artistes, writers, singers and motivational speakers are going to attend the festival, including Mika Singh, known Indian singer and the star performer at the festival; Chetan Bhagat, Indian author, columnist, and motivational speaker; Piyush Mishra, Indian film and theatre actor, music director, lyricist, singer and scriptwriter; Laxmi Agarwal, acid attack survivor and activist; Vindu Dara Singh, a Bollywood actor; Anurag Punetha, journalist and media specialist; Ravi Subramanian, award-winning author; Anuj Tiwari, novelist; Aparna Sharma, model-turned-actress; Adite Banerjee, romance novelist; Arupa Lahiry, classical dancer; Nitin Soni, author and poet; Anurag Chauhan, social worker; Raaj Shaandilya, TV and Bollywood writer, Sushant Singh, TV actor and presenter; Kulpreet Yadav, thriller and fiction writer; Sandeep Soparkar and Ankita Dolawat, ballroom dancers; Manjeet Negi, journalist; and Sidhartha Jain, journalist.The speakers from Qatar, include Shereen Dsouza, Amal Alaathem, Mervat Ibrahaim, Zunira Malik, Erika Ralaine, and Rashmi Agarwal. They are known and active members of Indian expatriate community in Qatar.The opening ceremony will be held at 5:30pm on July 11. The opening day will feature speeches, dance performances, and a book launch. Later in the evening, Mika Sing will perform.The second day will kick off at 11:30am and will feature panel discussions, poetry performances, musical theatre performance and the closing ceremony. In the closing ceremony, renowned guests from both, India and Qatar will speak on the occasion. The guests will be entertained with classical Indian dances. The ceremony will include launching of three fictional books. The second day will also be concluded with the performance of Mika Singh.Talking to Community, Anamika Mishra, festival director and award-winning author and motivational speaker, said, “With this festival, we aim to celebrate and showcase varied culture and literature of these two nations.“We are bringing the best of both the nations to Doha. With power packed author sessions, panel discussions, book launches, musical performances, poetry and book reading sessions, dance performances, theatre acts and more, QCLF will surely be able to touch the hearts of people leaving them inspired to do something for their cultures.”She added, “With the festival, we also aim to provide a platform to young and talented artists, writers, musicians, and performers to showcase their talent that will motivate them to work harder for their future endeavours.”Anamika further added, “There are many literary festivals taking place in India. We just had an idea on why not bringing both the cultures and literature to Qatar together in connection with ongoing Qatar-India Year of Culture.”About her company, Question Associates, she said, “It is India’s leading communication and entertainment company, integrating strategy, creativity and technology to provide unique experiences. We have our horizons spread in different directions such as event-organising, public relations, cultural festivals and digital marketing.“In just a span of few months, we have our offices in India, Dubai, Mauritius and US. With our events and festivals, we aim to provide platform to the hidden gems of the society, who don’t get the platform to showcase their talents.”
