Qatar Museums to welcome visitors next month with five special exhibitions

* New health and safety protocols include requiring visitors to purchase tickets in advance on QM’s website

The reopening of Qatar Museums (QM) institutions will continue in August with new temporary exhibitions at the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA), National Museum of Qatar (NMoQ) and Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, it has been announced. Museum libraries and all QM parks and playgrounds will also reopen with temporary restrictions in place.
In a press statement, QM said this phased-in expansion of services follows the July reopening of heritage sites and the permanent collection galleries of a number of QM museums, in accordance with recommendations from Qatar’s Health Protection and Communicable Disease Control office at the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH).




Yto Barrada -- Agadir, The Curve; Barbican Centre, London. (Photo by Max Colson)



New health and safety protocols include requiring visitors to purchase tickets in advance on QM’s website, to present the 'green' health status on the Ehteraz app, and to bring and wear face coverings for the duration of their visit. "QM’s ambitious programme of special exhibitions, which was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, will resume with opportunities for the public to enjoy artworks and artefacts that span centuries and the globe," the statement noted.

Drawn from the holdings of QM and from major loans, these temporary exhibitions "present artistic treasures assembled over the years by one of Qatar’s greatest collectors, survey the achievements of two important contemporary women artists of Arab background, and provide stunning insights into the creative life of one of the greatest artists of the modern era."
“With pleasure, I welcome all to the opening of our temporary exhibitions giving our public the opportunity to explore the masterpieces assembled in these exceptional exhibitions. I express my gratitude and appreciation to QM staff who have worked tirelessly during the challenging lockdown period to put together these exhibitions, I am especially grateful to the partners who have extended the loan period for these extraordinary works, so the exhibitions can be presented as originally envisioned," QM CEO Ahmad al-Namla said.
Exhibitions opening on August 2 include 'A Falcon’s Eye: Tribute to Sheikh Saoud Al Thani' at MIA, which marks the outstanding accomplishments of one of Qatar’s greatest collectors, who was largely responsible for laying the foundation for QM’s world-class collections; 'Yto Barrada: My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nougat', the first major solo museum exhibition in the Gulf region of the Moroccan-French artist, which brings together photographs, films, videos, sculptures, prints and fabric works that focus on threads of regeneration and growth in social and geological transformation; 'Huguette Caland: Faces and Places' at Mathaf, featuring six decades of the artist’s paintings, drawings, caftans, smocks and sculptures, including a selection of never before exhibited works; and 'Lived Forward: Art and Culture in Doha from 1960–2020' at Mathaf, which focuses on Mathaf's collection as a starting point that expands on research and local collaborations and looks at reference points of generations of artists, intellectuals and cultural activists who played a major role in activating the cultural scene in Doha for more than half a century.
Starting August 10, Picasso’s Studios, which is organised in partnership with the Musée national Picasso-Paris and has been on view since July 1 at the Doha Fire Station’s Garage Gallery, will offer extended evening hours, remaining open until 8pm on Mondays and Wednesdays. Though NMoQ will remain closed, the museum has developed two digital exhibitions that will be accessible on its website in August. 'Qatar’s Culinary Journey' and 'Habitat & Shelters' feature themes that are explored in NMoQ’s permanent galleries and include crowd-sourced material. In keeping with the guidelines set by the MoPH, a limited number of visitors and staff will be allowed inside each museum. The museums and heritage sites will be open from Sunday to Thursday, between 9am and 3pm.
Visitors will be required to reserve tickets in advance on the QM website. Upon arrival at the museum, ticketholders must present the 'green' health status on the Ehteraz app. Each person will also be checked for a normal temperature reading at the entrance.
Visitors (12 years of age and above) will be required to bring and wear a mask. Hand sanitiser stations will be placed throughout the location, encouraging visitors to keep their hands clean. Signage reminding visitors to keep a safe distance from others will also be visible on site.
Cloak rooms and lockers will be unavailable during this period. Interactive features at each museum such as touchscreens will be temporarily removed, and gallery guides will be offered online only. Museum gift shops will be open and cafes will offer limited service during museum hours. From Saturday to Thursday, IDAM restaurant at MIA will operate at limited capacity for dinner service, while JIWAN at NMoQ will be open at limited capacity for lunch and afternoon tea.
During this phase of reopening, public programmes will be limited to 10 visitors, and group tours and special events will remain suspended. QM’s parks and playgrounds will be open with restricted capacity from 9am to 10pm from Sunday to Thursday. Libraries will be open from 9am to 3pm for 10 visitors at a time.
NMoQ will launch two online exhibitions in August. At the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the museum invited its digital audiences to contribute towards developing the content of each, providing a platform for sharing creative responses during these challenging times.
First exhibition is ‘Qatar’s Culinary Journey’ (launching during Eid al-Adha). Intangible heritage is an important theme explored across NMoQ’s permanent galleries. This virtual exhibition highlights traditional and personal interpretations of Qatari cuisine.
The museum is still encouraging its digital audiences to take part in this virtual exhibition by sharing two to three photographs while preparing a Qatari inspired dish or drink, one photograph showcasing the final result, a recipe card, and a short statement explaining where/how/why he or she learnt to make this dish.
The next exhibition is ‘Habitats & Shelters’ (launching during the first half of August). Inspired by NMoQ's 'Qatar’s Natural Environments' and 'Life in Al Barr (Desert)' permanent galleries, this virtual exhibition explores how plants, animals and humans alike find shelter in the most extraordinary places and ways during challenging times, such as extreme or unusual weather conditions, natural disasters and even pandemics. The museum is still encouraging its digital audiences to share photographs, sketches, or paintings of retreats they have created within their homes in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.