Marriam Alhammadi

Marriam Yaseen Alhammadi is Director of Culture and Arts at the Ministry of Culture, former Director-General of the Qatari Forum for Authors, and a researcher and writer in culture and national identity.

She was born on 4 August 1972 into a traditional Qatari family of nine daughters and two sons and was the eldest of all the children. The home was conservative but practised moderation, and weekly gatherings, visits and trips nourished her curiosity. Frequent visits to the museum in the old palace and the National Museum instilled respect for knowledge, family cohesion and responsibility. At Al-Gharafa Primary School for Girls, she was academically gifted, quiet and observant; university later revealed a sociable presence and a strong instinct for teamwork.

Drawing lessons allowed her to depict Qatar’s marine and desert environments, while membership of the school library group drew her towards reading before writing. She worked through encyclopaedias and histories of Pharaonic, Babylonian, Assyrian, Greek and Roman civilisation, analysed questions from several perspectives and became known to her mother as ‘the family philosopher’. School activities also introduced her to writing, directing and social service.

At Qatar University’s College of Education, she studied geography and gained an understanding of the earth, humanity and the relationships connecting them, as well as the sciences of space and the universe.

She paused formal study after graduation to care for her young family, then returned to professional education. She completed a professional master’s degree in public relations through the British Institute and an executive master’s degree in public administration at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, continuing postgraduate study through a lasting commitment to research and knowledge.

Her professional career began in education in 1994 at Al-Shahaniya, which was then relatively remote. A year later, she moved to an established state school in old Al-Rayyan under Fatima Al-Saluli. Working among experienced teachers gave her a rich professional foundation and practical lessons that extended well beyond the classroom.

Over approximately eleven years in education, her responsibilities ranged widely. She led the Girl Guides during the early development of the movement and coordinated between her school and UNESCO through the Associated Schools Network of the Qatar National Commission for Education, Culture and Science.

She was named an Ideal Teacher at an early-2000s teachers’ celebration and published a school newspaper devoted to Qatar’s natural environment. The Education for a New Era initiative then brought her into the independent-school system, where Sabah Ismail Al-Haydos, Dr Hamda Al-Sulaiti and Khaled Abdullah Al-Harqan influenced her development. She also received support from His Excellency the Minister of Education, Saad bin Ibrahim Al-Mahmoud, and Dr Mohammed Al-Hammadi.

Training opportunities in Qatar and abroad accompanied work on policies, development plans and varied projects. Together, these assignments expanded her professional capabilities and changed the direction of her career.

From supervising independent schools, she moved into communication and educational exhibitions as Director of the Communication and Media Office at the Supreme Education Council. Although reform of the national education system brought significant challenges, the role allowed education, culture, public relations and media to meet in one place.

Cultural interests had appeared much earlier. Arabic teachers Aida Al-Hamaida and Noura Al-Dirham recognised her enthusiasm for writing, encouraged her and modelled a serious commitment to Arabic, including the use of classical language inside and outside the classroom.

Work in education kept that interest alive through cultural events, schoolbook fairs and heritage exhibitions. Student activities, educational strategies and major public occasions became a bridge between education and culture.

Expo Milan provided an early model of large-scale cultural organisation. She worked closely with His Excellency Sultan bin Rashid Al Khater, whose calm manner and precision in follow-up became an important professional example.

She also served on the organising committee for National Day celebrations and worked with committees and teams concerned with cultural diversity.

Organisation and preparation were inseparable from media work. Even when editors were available, she often wrote major statements and news items herself. Sadiq Al-Amari published her first piece of journalism—a study of employment in independent schools—across a full newspaper page. The experience accelerated work on the book that had long existed in draft form on her computer and would later carry her cultural message into print.

In 2013, she joined Primary Health Care Corporation as Executive Director of Corporate Communications as primary care separated from Hamad Medical Corporation and Qatar developed a national health strategy. Dr Mariam Abdul Malik supported the transition. She applied her educational experience to the new sector, completed professional training, earned certification as a public-relations manager and strengthened relationships with institutions and ministries across Qatar.

In April 2019, His Excellency Salah bin Ghanem Al-Ali, then Minister of Culture and Sports, appointed her Director-General of the Qatari Forum for Authors. The post brought her directly into the world of thinkers, novelists and opinion-makers to which she had long felt she belonged.

Returning to culture renewed collaboration with Dr Hamda Al-Sulaiti, Secretary-General of the Qatar National Commission for Education, Culture and Science. During four years at the forum, she expanded events, training courses and competitions that opened doors for emerging writers. Agreements with publishing houses, the national commission and Qatar National Library strengthened criticism, book launches, media access and a continuous programme of literary activity.

She placed the forum on a firmer institutional path by building relationships with unions and organisations abroad, connecting Qatari authors with writers from other countries, encouraging membership and establishing short- and long-term plans through a detailed strategy. Having completed the task, she passed responsibility to her successor.

Her first book, ‘My Identity is Qatari’, established her as an author before the forum appointment and opened the cultural field more widely. A weekly column in Al-Arab newspaper became another vehicle for her ideas.

The manuscript had remained on her computer before appearing first as articles and then as a book from Dar Rosa, founded by Aisha Jassim Al-Kuwari. Five books followed, all concerned with national identity and with interpreting the words of His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani for a wider social audience.

In August 2021, His Excellency Salah bin Ghanem Al-Ali appointed her Director of Culture and Arts, succeeding Faisal Al Suwaidi while she continued to lead the Qatari Forum for Authors. She was the first woman to hold the position. Following a ministerial change, His Excellency Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Hamad bin Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani confirmed her appointment, entrusting her with a demanding new phase of cultural responsibility.

Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser Al-Misnad became a central role model: a mother, wife, professional leader and initiator whose example showed Qatari women how family responsibility and public service could reinforce one another.

In 2016, she was appointed an honorary ambassador for the Friends of Mental Health Association alongside public and community figures of wide influence. The book ‘Goodbye Abdullah’, written in memory of a nephew who died in a road accident, joined grief with scientific insight. It warned of road danger, acknowledged the human pain of loss and offered practical psychological guidance to people navigating trauma and sorrow.

Success required sustained time and effort and a careful balance between family and work. Managing several roles taught her to recognise individual differences, adjust the pace of a team without sacrificing standards and combine discipline with humanity. The habit of analysing change and preparing early became a defining element of her leadership.