On September 18, at the invitation of wife of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, Executive Director of the “My Step” Charitable Foundation Anna Hakobyan, the delegation of Katara Cultural Village Foundation (the largest cultural foundation of the State of Qatar), under the leadership of the Foundation’s General Manager Khalid Ibrahim Al-Sulaiti, arrived in Armenia to attend the opening ceremony of the personal exhibition of Greek-Armenian artist Edouard Sacaillan.
On behalf of Anna Hakobyan, a working breakfast was served for the representatives of the Katara Cultural Village Foundation from Qatar. Among the attendees were RA Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Artur Martirosyan, RA Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Qatar Armen Sargsyan, Deputy Director of the “My Step” Charitable Foundation for Programs and External Relations Talin Topalakian and Deputy Director of the “My Step” Charitable Foundation for Operations and Public Relations Davit Mkrtchyan.
Among the attendees from the Qatari side were General Manager of Katara Cultural Village Foundation Khalid Ibrahim Al-Sulaiti, Chief of Staff Omar Ali Al-Mannai, Director of Cultural Affairs and Events Department Khalid Abdel Rahim al-Sayed and Head of the Procurement Department Abdal Rahman Jassim Al-Tamimi.
In her welcoming remarks, Anna Hakobyan stated that it is a great honor to receive the administration of the partnering Foundation and voiced hope that they will spend unforgettable days in Armenia.
General Manager of Katara Cultural Village Foundation Khalid Ibrahim Al-Sulaiti emphasized that, as General Manager of the Foundation for over a decade, as a rule, he often does not leave for another country on an official visit due to time constraints, but he gladly accepted the invitation of Mrs. Hakobyan.
Besides participation in the exhibition, this visit is also laying the foundation for the cultural partnership between the “My Step” and Katara Foundations. During the business breakfast, the parties discussed the directions in which they might collaborate in the near future, and within the scope of not only the two Foundations, but also other state institutions and organizations of Qatar. The parties also agreed on organizing the reciprocal visits of high-ranking delegations soon.
After breakfast, at the invitation of and escorted by the wife of the Prime Minister, the guests from Qatar also visited the Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts (Matenadaran) where they were also joined by Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the “My Step” Charitable Foundation, RA Minister of High-Tech Industry Mkhitar Hayrapetyan and Charge d’Affaires of the State of Qatar in Armenia, Mr. Mohd Yousuf Al-Mudzafr. The Matenadaran, as well as the history and the dating of the preserved manuscripts were presented to the guests. The guests toured the permanent and temporary exhibitions and were introduced to the primarily exhibited and newly acquired manuscripts. They were also shown the largest manuscript in Armenian — “Msho Jarentir”. In this way, the guests were told how the Armenians have treated writing for centuries. The guests from Qatar also explored the collection of up to 3,000 foreign language manuscripts (including manuscripts in Arabic) preserved at the Matenadaran. They also paid a visit to the Division for Restoration of Manuscripts where they tracked the process and were introduced to the restoration methods. The specialists showed the “Haismavurk” manuscript, which dates back to the 16th century, made its way through the Genocide and was in very poor condition when it was brought to Armenia. All the damaged pages and cover of the book were restored at the Matenadaran.
Director of the Matenadaran Ara Khzmalyan shared with the leadership of the Katara Cultural Village Foundation the Matenadaran’s idea of setting up a laboratory for the restoration of and research on Arabic-language manuscripts and underscored the importance of partnership in this regard. The General Manager of the Katara Cultural Village Foundation said the initiative is extremely important and remarked that the Qatar National Library can support the Matenadaran in this.
