Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar - VCUQ Po Box 8095 Doha Qatar (city map) Send E-mail tel +974 - 492 72 45 www.qatar.vcu.edu

Doha, Qatar - The Gallery at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar presents 'Transit', an exhibition organized by Meredith Brice, from 21 October to 21 November, 2009 with a reception on 21 October, 2009 at 8:00 PM at the Gallery in VCUQatar. The exhibition is open to the public.

The exhibition transit brings together the works of four Australian visual artists: Meredith Brice, Stephen Copland, Karee S. Dahl and Colin Reaney. Formerly resident in the Emirate of Sharjah, UAE, both artist couples have focused on a common theme in their work: the notion of an itinerant art practice built on responses to shifts and movements in moving through and living within different context within the Global Village. Notions of home, homeland and material utopias seek to explain the response to garner a sense of identity and space. The four artists' work explores and underscores through relationship the commonalities, differences and uniqueness in artistic practice.

Fascinating to this exhibition is the artist partnership relationship. The female perspective of the transitory life is interpreted through the experience of making with a contemporary eye to traditional craft forms, the warp and the weft, weaving together of threads, within notions of the supposed domestic, nurture space. Observing culture(s) from the margins, assimilating the observations becomes the means of integration and hybridization to construct new meanings and forms of reference. New experiences become the base material to re-work, re-interpret and re-formulate existing models of understanding through the creation of tactile, socially-relevant forms sourced from the material present.

Meredith Brice's interest lies within the areas of science and technology, specifically nanotechnology and the creation of smart or so-called "intelligent textiles". Karee S. Dahl is interested in the "process and material relationships between drawing, painting, sculpture and installation practice" within the context of textiles. Stephen Copland's works paint a poetic response to the migrant experience and the migratory life. Colin Reaney interprets the transitory life through sculptural forms that reference the movement of the human condition addressing such concepts as portability, intransience, accountability and property.

The Art Gallery of Macquarie University, Sydney Australia has scheduled this exhibition as part of their program at the beginning of 2011.

The exhibition is scheduled from 21 October - 21 November 2009. The Gallery at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar is open Sundays to Thursdays, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, or by prior appointment. A reception will be held at the gallery on 21 October, 2009 at 8:00 PM. For further information please contact Dr. Jochen Sokoly, Assistant Professor in Art History and Gallery Director, VCUQatar on +974 492 7200 or email Dr. Sokoly on jsokoly@qatar.vcu.edu.

About Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar:
Established in the US in 1838 and in Qatar in 1998, Virginia Commonwealth University offers students from all over the world the opportunity to earn Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in fashion, graphic, interior design and painting & printmaking and a Master of Fine Arts degree in design studies. A team of highly skilled professors provide rigorous curricula that prepare students to assume leadership roles in the professional design field of their choice. VCUQatar regularly organizes and hosts exhibitions, gallery events, world-class conferences and holds an annual fashion show. The documentary entitled "VCUQatar", which highlighted the 10 year anniversary of Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar's rich history and the education the students are receiving, won a Capital Emmy at the 51st Emmy Awards in April 2009. VCUQatar is supported and funded by the Qatar Foundation. For more information please visit www.qatar.vcu.edu

About Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development
Founded in 1995 by His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of Qatar, and chaired by Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al Missned, Qatar Foundation is a private, non-profit organization committed to the principle that a nation's greatest natural resource is its people. The headquarters of Qatar Foundation are located within its flagship project, Education City, a fourteen million square-meter campus which hosts numerous progressive learning institutions and centers of research, including branch campuses of six of the world's leading universities, plus a cutting-edge research and development center. Qatar Foundation also works to enhance the quality of life in Qatar by investing in community health and development.
For more information please visit: http://www.qf.org.qa