Jamala performed her first-ever QIRIM concert with orchestra in Qatar
The event was organised in collaboration with Katara Cultural Village Katara Qatar, GPDNet, the Ukrainian Institute, the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Embassy of Ukraine in the State of Qatar, and took place at the Katara Opera House.
The QIRIM concert became the first large-scale performance by a Ukrainian artist in Qatar. The program featured 14 authentic Crimean Tatar songs — each connected to a particular city or region of Crimea — as well as Jamala’s Eurovision 2016 winning song 1944 and the Lemko folk song Vershe, miy vershe.
QIRIM is more than music — it is the story of a peninsula told through voice and symphonic sound. Throughout the concert, the audience was immersed in the world of ancient melodies brought to life through Jamala’s contemporary interpretation.
‘I’ve always wanted Ukraine to sound powerful and majestic in the world – both in form and in meaning. This time, I truly felt as if my team and I carried an entire peninsula on our shoulders. Through these songs – like diaries or testaments – you speak to people who may be hearing about Ukraine, about Crimea, about the Crimean Tatars for the first time. And it’s the music that becomes the language through which we communicate with the world.’ – said Jamala after the concert.
‘We conceived this concert a year and a half ago, and it has become perhaps the most large-scale cultural diplomacy project between Ukraine and Qatar since our independence. Together with the symphony orchestra, Jamala immersed the audience in the magical, vivid and profound world of Qırım – the name Crimean Tatars use for the Ukrainian peninsula – where the songs were performed in Crimean Tatar, Ukrainian, English and Arabic. Such is the power of culture: it can build trust and solidarity between our countries.’ – said Alim Aliev, Deputy Director General of the Ukrainian Institute.
The QIRIM concert in Doha was attended by representatives of the diplomatic corps, government, and cultural institutions of Qatar, as well as members of the Ukrainian community in Qatar.
Among the guests were officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Qatar Fund for Development (which coordinates humanitarian aid on behalf of the Qatari government), and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, along with more than twenty ambassadors of foreign countries.
These included ambassadors of Azerbaijan, Canada, Kazakhstan, Cyprus, Malta, Moldova, Mozambique, Rwanda, Romania, Uruguay, Finland, and France.