Doha: Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, in collaboration with Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar (VCUarts Qatar), has launched Fanoon, a new public lecture series and university seminar designed to facilitate dialogue between internationally renowned artists and audiences, including students, in Doha.

According to Qatar News Agency, the Fanoon series features four distinct research-led practices: Rayyane Tabet's work with archives and the built environment; Bahar Noorizadeh's exploration of digital and financial infrastructures; Shuddhabrata Sengupta's practice of collective knowledge production with Raqs Media Collective; and Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti's decolonial spatial practice with Decolonizing Architecture Art Research (DAAR). The public lecture series is presented in partnership with Qatar Creates Talks, enhancing opportunities for audiences in Doha to engage with international artists, ideas, and contemporary creative practice.

The initiative builds on the legacy of VCUarts Qatar's original Fanoon Center for Printmedia Research, established in 2012. This center was the first print-publishing program of its kind in the Middle East, collaborating with leading regional and international artists to create a significant body of work and providing students with firsthand experience in artistic production and exchange. The new Fanoon seeks to expand this legacy through public lectures and university seminars.

Conceived as an experiment in exploring new approaches to learning and knowledge-sharing, Fanoon inaugurates a new collaboration between a museum and an arts university. The initiative connects Mathaf with the Painting and Printmaking programme (Department of Fine Arts) at VCUarts Qatar, fostering ongoing dialogue around contemporary artistic practice and proposing a forward-looking model for arts education.

Each participating artist will deliver a public lecture at Mathaf's Makan Auditorium. These lectures are free and open to all, providing audiences with a unique opportunity to engage with the artists' research, methodologies, and wider fields of inquiry.

The public programme is complemented by a university seminar led by writer and curator Tirdad Zolghadr, Curator of Academic Outreach at Mathaf. Open to students across Education City, the seminar will allow participants to delve deeper into the ideas presented during the lectures through continued discussion and study.