Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art


The Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha offers an Arab perspective on modern and contemporary art and supports creativity, promotes dialogue and inspires new ideas. Established in 2010, it is considered to be among the most important cultural attractions in the country.

History

Mathaf opened in December 2010 in a temporary building in the Qatar Foundation's Education City in Doha, transformed by the French architect Jean-François Bodin. Mathaf translates to "museum". The initial collection was gathered by Sheikh Hassan bin Mohammed Al Thani, and QMA provided the conditions of conservation as a public institution chaired by Sheikha Al-Mayassa Al Thani. Moroccan curator Abdellah Karroum is the director of Mathaf since 2013.

Collection

The 5,500-square-meter museum, located in a former school building in Doha’s Education City, has a collection of more than 9,000 artworks, as communicated in 2014, that offers a rare comprehensive overview of modern Arab art, representing the major trends spanning from the 1840s to the present. The collection was donated by Sheikh Hassan bin Mohamed bin Ali Al Thani to Qatar Foundation, and was later acquired by Qatar Museums Authority. It is thought to be one of the largest collections of Arab-produced paintings and sculptures in the world. Qatar Museums Authority chairwoman, Sheikha Al-Mayassa Al Thani, stated upon the opening of Mathaf in 2010 that, " we are making Qatar the place to see, explore and discuss the creations of Arab artists of the modern era and of our own time."

Exhibitions

Mathaf permanent collection exhibition occupies seven galleries in the upper floor, while the atrium and five galleries are dedicated to temporary exhibitions. The museum looks at major modern and contemporary movements represented in the collection. Mathaf opened on 30 December 2010 with an exhibition called Sajjil, which means "act of recording" in Arabic, and featured a cross-section of Arab art over the previous 100 years. Simultaneously, the museum hosted Interventions and Told/Untold/Retold, an ambitious exhibition of new commissions by twenty-three contemporary Arab artists.
Mathaf's following exhibition, Cai Guo-Qiang: Saraab, ran from 5 December 2011 to 26 May 2012. The first solo show to be organized by the museum, Cai Guo-Qiang: Saraab showcased more than fifty works, including seventeen newly commissioned artworks, by the renowned contemporary artist Cai Guo-Qiang. Saraab re-imagined historical relations between China and the Persian Gulf region and reaffirmed Mathaf's commitment to presenting a unique Arab perspective on modern and contemporary art. The exhibition opened with Cai Guo-Qiang's largest ever daytime explosion event, Black Ceremony.
Tea with Nefertiti: the Making of the Artwork by the Artist, the Museum and the Public was held from November 2012 to March 2013. Through revisiting the contested histories of how Egyptian collections have been amassed by numerous museums from the 19th century onwards, this exhibition brings together antiquities, modernist works, archives and 26 international contemporary artists and artist collectives.
Other exhibitions organized by Mathaf include:
Mathaf offers supervised tours of the premises to visitors in addition to organizing educational activities and offering art classes. The museum also houses a library.

Research initiatives

The museum, in collaboration with Qatar Foundation, has published an online encyclopedia containing the biographies of Arab artists. The is published by Mathaf Curatorial and Research department, as a peer reviewed platform linking the museum to University.

Gallery