Qatar Museums (QM) yesterday unveiled an iconic carousel designed by renowned Iraqi artist Dia Azzawi at the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) Park, between the children’s play area and the cafe.
The latest installation, titled ‘Enchanted East,’ forms part of QM’s growing public art offering and will join the expanding collection of world-class public artworks on show by QM, under the patronage of its chairperson, HE Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.
The unique carousel features 40 beautifully designed animal ‘seats’ inspired by MIA’s permanent collection.
Azzawi was also inspired by Islamic arabesque, Arabic calligraphy and famous carpets from Islamic civilisation when creating the installation.
The carousel, which took five days in total to install, will now have a permanent home at MIA Park. “At Qatar Museums, we continue to deliver our promise of creating cultural experiences outside of our museum walls for everyone to interact with and enjoy,” said consultant Khalid Yousef al-Ibrahim.
“Dia Azzawi is a significant, leading artistic figure and also a long standing friend of Qatar Museums, and we are proud to exhibit his works in Qatar, to continue to inspire a culture of creativity and innovation and to create cultural experiences that involve the widest possible audiences.”
The installation comes ahead of a major retrospective exhibition of the work of Azzawi, which will be held simultaneously in Qatar at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art and QM Gallery Al Riwaq in Doha, from October 16, 2016 to April 16, 2017.
Azzawi is internationally recognised as one of the pioneers of modern Arab art.
His exhibition, which showcases over 350 works across 50 years and a range of media, aims to map an itinerary of modernism and profiles the practice of the Iraqi artist.
The retrospective will be organised into two parts, with each one tracing a trajectory of the artist’s practice: one charting the relation between image and text in Azzawi’s work, and the other following the artist’s engagement with the key moments in the political history of modern Iraq and the Arab world.
During Ramadan, the ‘Enchanted East’ carousel will be open during the following hours: Sunday – Saturday: 7pm – midnight.
Tuesdays and Fridays: Closed.
From July to September, the carousel will be open from Sunday to Saturday, 6pm to midnight.
Tuesdays: Closed.
From October to May, the carousel will be open from Sunday to Saturday, 10.30am to 11pm.
Tuesdays: Closed.
The unique carousel features 40 well designed animal ‘seats’ inspired by MIA’s permanent collection.
