Across Qatar, art increasingly appears where people live, work and gather: along the Corniche, in parks, at cultural institutions, in neighbourhoods and across the desert landscape. For HE Dr Eng Saad bin Ahmad al-Muhannadi, former member of the Qatar Museums (QM) Board of Trustees, the growing public art programme is among the key achievements that have helped shape Qatar’s cultural identity.
Speaking as part of Evolution Nation, al-Muhannadi recalled his five years with QM and the development he witnessed during that period. “I joined Qatar Museums for five years as a member of the Honorary Trustees, and I honestly witnessed the passion and dedication of the organisation's executive team in implementing Qatar Museums' strategy.
“Honestly, one of the most important achievements I found was that it added value to the State of Qatar and truly highlighted Qatar’s identity and creativity that is the subject of public art, where Qatar Museums embraced public art projects and artworks in various locations across the country. In addition to this, the involvement of Qatari artists and designers in these works played a major role in shaping the identity of the State of Qatar,” he added.
That vision can now be encountered throughout the country. QM’s public art collection includes works by Qatari, regional, and international artists, placing art beyond traditional gallery spaces and into the everyday spaces people encounter. Among the most recent additions is Erwin Wurm’s Pink Convertible Big, now installed at Place Vendome. Created in 2019 from cast aluminium and lacquer, the sculpture belongs to Wurm’s celebrated Fat Car series, in which familiar automobiles are given exaggerated, swollen proportions. The work turns an object associated with luxury, speed, and status into a humorous yet provocative commentary on consumerism, materialism, and excess. It joins a public art landscape that ranges widely in subject and setting.
At the Museum of Islamic Art Park, Fischli and Weiss’s Rock on Top of Another Rock creates an unlikely balancing act, while Richard Serra’s monumental East-West/West-East extends across the desert at Brouq Nature Reserve.
At Hamad International Airport, Urs Fischer’s Lamp Bear—the monumental yellow teddy bear positioned beneath an oversized lamp—has become one of the most recognisable public artworks encountered by travellers arriving in and departing from Doha. Along the city’s waterfront, Salman al-Malek’s Toub Toub Ya Bahar draws from a traditional Qatari song associated with sailors, while Hassan bin Mohammed al-Thani’s Motherland at the National Museum of Qatar draws directly from the country’s history and traditions.
Works by Qatari artists, including Ahmed al-Bahrani, Shouq al-Mana, Bouthayna al-Muftah, and Aisha Nasser al-Sowaidi, further place local artistic voices within Qatar’s public realm.
According to QM, the growing collection has expanded the places and ways in which audiences experience art in Qatar, with works appearing in familiar public spaces and becoming part of the country’s evolving visual landscape.
For al-Muhannadi, preserving those cultural foundations while continuing to develop them remains essential for future generations. “My advice to the next generation is to preserve the heritage and Qatari culture and to develop it in a way that keeps pace with global progress in this field,” he said.
The Evolution Nation video series forms part of the wider Qatar Creates cultural movement by QM. The campaign was launched to mark 50 years since the establishment of the original National Museum of Qatar in 1975, celebrating the people, institutions and ideas that have shaped Qatar’s cultural development.
Through its stories, Evolution Nation highlights individuals who have contributed to Qatar’s artistic and historic landscape over the past five decades. The series is available on the Qatar Creates YouTube channel and across QM’s social media platforms, offering audiences a closer look at the people behind the country’s ongoing cultural, creative, and sporting evolution.