Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar - VCUQ, Doha - Gallery news: VCUQatar Announces Mira Nair, Keynote Speaker, Mousharaka

VCUQatar Announces Mira Nair, Keynote Speaker, Mousharaka (24.2.2009)

Mira Nair

Immediate release: VCUQatar announces Mira Nair as a Keynote Speaker and Doha Bank as a Sponsor for Mousharaka

Doha, Qatar - Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar in partnership with Icograda is proud to announce the participation of Mira Nair as a keynote speaker for the Mousharaka conference. Mousharaka will take place at VCUQatar from 28 February to 5 March, 2009.

One of Hollywood's most accomplished directors, Mira Nair has been lauded from her earliest endeavors. She found incipient and award winning success as a documentary filmmaker, before moving on to feature films. Ms. Nair's debut feature, Salaam Bombay was nominated for an Academy Award, Golden Globe, and BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It also won the Camera D'Or (for best first feature) and the Prix du Publique (for most popular entry) at the Cannes Film Festival as well as twenty-five other international awards. Since then, with films such as Mississippi Masala, Monsoon Wedding, the Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love, My Own Country, and Vanity Fair, Ms. Nair has become one of the most respected, acclaimed and award-winning directors of her generation.

Following the tragic events of September 11, 2001, Ms. Nair joined a group of eleven renowned film makers, each commissioned to direct a film that was eleven minutes, nine seconds, and one frame long. She has also been appointed as a mentor in film by the prestigious Rolex Protégé Arts Initiative, joining fellow mentors Jessye Norman, Sir Peter Hall, David Hockney, Mario Vargas Llosa, and Saburo Teshigawara, to guide young artists in critical stages of their artistic development. Her film company, Mirabai Films, is establishing an annual filmmaker's laboratory, Maisha, which will be dedicated to the support of visionary screenwriters and directors in East Africa and South Asia.

From the director's chair, Ms. Nair has told the stories of people who exist on the margins and are often pulled between two competing worlds. A native of India, schooled at Delhi University and Harvard, and currently living in New York, she is particularly adept at telling stories that bridge the gap between cultures. She brings that same skill to her lectures and seminars. A natural on stage, she challenges audiences to think about assumptions, stereotypes, and prejudices, and how these manifest themselves in our relationships.

VCUQatar is also proud to announce Doha Bank as a sponsor for Mousharaka. Doha Bank is one of the largest banks in Qatar playing a dominant role in Qatar's banking landscape. Established in 1979, it has today grown to 18 branches, four pay offices, a Dubai representative office, New York operations and the largest ATM network in Qatar. Doha Bank offers a complete range of banking services unmatched in Qatar. In the retail banking segment, it has innovative loan and other products like Q-pack, Ladies packages, Ladies investment scheme, "infovest", India equity services, Internet packages for corporate and retail, "bancassurance" and e-remittance. Doha Bank has always been a trendsetter with new delivery channels - SMS banking, Bank-on-Wheels, bilingual website, state-of-the-art ATMs, heavy-duty cash deposit machines, on line Internet banking and e-bank - setting the banking services benchmark for Qatar.

Mousharaka / The Icograda Design Week in Qatar, presented by VCUQatar, is composed of the Education Symposium and the Professional Conference, where prominent speakers will share perspectives on design and design collaborations. VCUQatar is also spearheading the creation of MEDEA - the Middle East Design Educators Association - a platform for educators charged with getting the most out of design. For more information about Mousharaka, featured speakers and events, and to register please visit www.mousharaka.com

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 and interior design. 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. VCUQatar is supported and funded by the Qatar Foundation. For more information please visit www.qatar.vcu.edu or call +974 492 7245.

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: www.qf.org.qa

About Icograda
Icograda (the International Council of Graphic Design Associations) is the world body for professional communication design. Founded in 1963 in London, UK, it is a voluntary assembly of organizations concerned with graphic design, visual communication, design management, promotion, education, research and journalism. Icograda promotes communication designers' vital role in society and commerce and unifies the voices of graphic designers and visual communicators worldwide. For more information please visit www.icograda.org.

VCUQatar Announces Mira Nair, Keynote Speaker, Mousharaka as pdf-File 140 KB

VCUQatar Announces Mira Nair, Keynote Speaker, Mousharaka as pdf-File 104 KB in Arabic language

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Mira Nair, Keynote Speaker, Mousharaka
Mira Nair, Keynote Speaker, Mousharaka