So last night I went to Katara to attend a lecture by Sheikh Saad Al Aatik on "Deliverance from Hellfire". It didn't start until 9:30pm but to get out of the apartment I arrived at Katara around 8:15pm so I could wander around. There wasn't much humidity that night so while it was hot it wasn't so unpleasant that you couldn't walk around.
First I came across a gallery that held modern artworks expressing faith.
I'm not much for modern art so I wasn't sure what to make of it. The glasswork was kind of cool and a few people were getting pictures taken standing behind the glass.
Then I saw another exhibition at a nearby gallery. The title refers to the 99 names of Allah that are found in the Qur’an.
Turns out the artist is primarily a graffiti artist but while there was some artwork definitely inspired by graffiti art . . .
. . . he also had a lot of calligraphy work on display.
Then I stopped for a free Arabic coffee and some dates from a stand that Katara had set up. That was nice of them. Finally it was off to the mosque for the lecture.
Beautiful mosque isn't it? Anyway, Sheikh Al Aatik (on the right with the red gurtra) started off the lecture and after a minute I realized that the entire lecture would be in Arabic! I heard about the lecture through a catalog of events happening at Katara, I wish they had said that the lecture would be in Arabic, I assumed it would be in English because the catalog listing was in English. Don't get me wrong, I can speak a bit of Arabic, but nowhere near enough to follow what was going on, I caught maybe 5% of what he was saying. *shrug*, I sat patiently, admired the mosque, and tried to pick up whatever words I could. After about 45 minutes lecture was over and I left. Shame that I couldn't understand what he was saying.
Anyway, Katara has a lot of events and nice exhibitions on display during Ramadan. If the weather is not too humid I suggest you go there one evening.
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