By Fran Gillespie/Doha


Dr Oliver Watson
A farewell lunch gathering was held yesterday at the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) for outgoing director Dr Oliver Watson, who is leaving Doha to return to Britain.
Qatar Museums Authority (QMA) chief executive officer Abdullah al-Najjar announced to applause that Aisha al-Khater, the deputy director of the MIA, had been appointed as acting director.
Paying tribute to Dr Watson’s contribution to the success of the MIA since it opened in 2008, al-Najjar said: “When the museum started the number of staff was very limited.”
“I consider the appointment of Oliver Watson to be one of the best decisions we ever made; he has helped to make the MIA an iconic landmark,” he added.
Al-Khater said that working with Dr Watson had been an inspiration and a privilege and she had greatly enjoyed the occasions when they had visited museums abroad on research projects: “(It’s) like having your own personal tour guide!”
She presented Dr Watson with gifts on behalf of the MIA staff, including a symbolic iron key conferring on him the freedom of the museum, and an original painting of the museum by Deanne Dewar, head of Art Education in the MIA’s Education Department.
Dr Watson congratulated al-Khater on her appointment and said that he had every confidence in her abilities.
He said: “Success is really about the people you know. I have made many good friends among my colleagues here and will miss working with them, but fortunately I will be back in Doha from time to time and will of course be visiting the museum.”
Dr Watson has been appointed to the IM Pei Professorship of Islamic Art and Architecture at Oxford University.
The professorship involves returning to Doha every year to teach for two months at the Faculty of Islamic Studies at Qatar Foundation.
He was with the V&A Museum in London for over 20 years before becoming chief curator of the MIA from 2003 to 2005.
He then took up an appointment as Keeper of the Department of Eastern Art at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, before returning to Doha in 2008 to become director of the MIA.