A traditional tent woven from goat and camel hair by Qatari women stands at the heart of the “On the Move” exhibition, inviting visitors in Beijing to step inside a world shaped by mobility, resilience, and desert life.
The reconstructed Bayt al Sha’ar, or “House of Hair”, serves as one of the centrepieces of the National Museum of Qatar (NMoQ)’s first travelling exhibition.
It offers a glimpse into how Qatar’s nomadic communities have lived, gathered, and adapted to their environment for generations.
Now on display at the National Museum of China (NMC), one of the world’s most visited museums, “On the Move” presents more than 150 artefacts from Qatar alongside photographs, films, oral histories, and archival materials.
Together, they document the experiences of people who moved across Qatar’s desert landscape, highlighting the traditions, skills, and resilience that sustained them from the 18th century until the oil era.
Qatar Museums (QM) noted that the exhibition, housed in South Gallery 3 and open until September 9, is the first of its kind at the NMC.
Through immersive displays and historical narratives, it introduces Chinese audiences to a chapter of Qatar’s heritage that remains largely unfamiliar outside the region.
Structured across eight sections, the exhibition sheds light on the history and way of Qatar’s mobile desert populations, while also examining how Arab nomads have been portrayed in media, scholarship, and popular imagination.
According to the QM, other sections focus on traditional architecture and weaving practices, the organisation of living spaces, and the close relationship between pastoralists and the animals that sustained their livelihoods.
Visitors also learn how nomadic communities adapted to the desert environment through accumulated knowledge and practical skills.
Themes of creativity, hospitality, and communal life run throughout the exhibition, which also traces the social and environmental changes brought about by modernisation and the discovery of oil.
The journey concludes with “Mapping Migration Memory”, an immersive sound installation exploring migration, memory, and resilience.
The Beijing presentation marks the latest chapter in the exhibition’s international journey.
Originally launched at the NMoQ in 2022 as part of the Qatar–MENASA (Middle East, North Africa and South Asia) Year of Culture, “On the Move” initially featured more than 400 objects.
It later travelled to the National Museum of Mongolia in Ulaanbaatar in 2024, becoming the museum’s first exhibition to be presented outside Qatar.
The exhibition’s arrival in China coincides with a milestone in Qatar-China cultural relations.
Ten years after the two countries marked the 2016 Year of Culture, the exhibition serves as a reminder of the institutional partnerships and cultural exchanges that emerged from that initiative.
According to the QM, the 2016 programme helped establish lasting links between museums and cultural organisations in both countries, creating opportunities for continued collaboration.
Nearly a decade later, those connections have evolved into new exhibitions, exchanges, and cultural projects.
More than a showcase of artefacts, the QM noted that “On the Move” reflects how cultural ties can continue to grow through museums and shared heritage.
As visitors explore the stories of Qatar’s nomadic communities in Beijing, they also encounter a broader story of cultural dialogue between Qatar and China that continues to unfold.
