Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar - VCUQ, Doha - Gallery news: VCUQatar Presents Off-grid, a lecture and exhibition 13 October, 2009, 7:00PM, VCUQatar Atrium

VCUQatar Presents Off-grid, a lecture and exhibition 13 October, 2009, 7:00PM, VCUQatar Atrium (12.10.2009)

VCUQatar Presents Off-grid: a lecture and exhibition

Doha, Qatar - Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar presents 'Off-grid', a lecture and photographic exhibition by Johan Granberg on October 13, 2009 at 7:00 PM at the atrium in VCUQatar. The lecture and exhibition are open to the public.

'Off-grid' will focus on Mr. Granberg's two-year stay in Papua New Guinea highlighting his experiences teaching design and working as a designer in an indigenous culture. "The lecture will also draw attention to our participation in the building of an aid post, a three-room clinic, in Papua New Guinea's Labutale village," said Mr. Granberg, Assistant Professor of Interior Design at VCUQatar. 'On-Bamboo', a conference and workshop curated by Mr. Granberg when he taught at the Papua New Guinea University of Technology, will be the final subject of the lecture. 'On-Bamboo' was an international event that explored the possibilities of bamboo's architectural, artistic, ecological, construction and structural aspects.

The lecture will be followed by a photographic exhibition by Mr. Granberg capturing Papua New Guinea in all of its dramatic effervescence. The free-standing cardboard stands for the exhibition have been designed by VCUQatar's Interior Design sophomore students under the guidance of their professors Mr. Granberg and Maja Kinnemark.

"Students were asked to bring out the beauty in a simple and inexpensive material, investigate different construction techniques and create an elegant structure that provides temporary, yet functional seating for one person," said Ms. Kinnemark. The designs are in the form of a full-scale prototype. The exhibition runs from 13 to 14 October in VCUQatar's Orange Hall and is open to the public.

Johan Granberg has been engaged with the discipline of architecture since 1987 as an engineer and architect. He has also taught design in over 10 countries in the last 10 years and runs a private practice J. Granberg Design. The office has executed a number of projects that range from furniture and graphic design to architecture and urban design and has received recognition through several international design competitions. Mr. Granberg taught at Papua New Guinea for two years prior to joining VCUQatar in January this year and was even adopted by Labutale village. His previous teaching appointments include the Pratt Institute in New York, the Art and Technology program at Gothenburg University and the Lebanese American University in Beirut to name a few. He holds a Bachelor's and Master's in architecture from the Chalmers School of Architecture, Sweden.

Maja Kinnemark has a diverse background in cabinet making, furniture design, exhibition design, sculpture and installation art. Before graduating from the HDK School of Design and Craft at Gothenburg University in Sweden, she studied fine art and cabinetmaking. Since 2003 she has free-lanced as a professional furniture designer and has designed exhibitions for the artist-driven Swedish government-funded Gallery Box and practiced museum exhibition architecture at the Natural History Museum in Gothenburg. Maja joined the Interior Design Department at VCUQatar in the fall of 2006 where she teaches furniture design, craft and design fundamentals among other subjects.

About Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar:
Established in the US in 1838 and in Qatar in 1998, Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar 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

Images:
Indigenous culture of Papua New Guinea captured on photograph by Johan Granberg

Architecture using Bamboo