In brief: Some of the most notable places in Qatar to experience its balance between modernity and tradition are its museums.
Some of the most notable places in Doha to experience its balance between modernity and tradition are its museums. In three we visited, striking architecture enfolds Qatar’s celebration of its religious and cultural heritage.
The Museum of Islamic Art
The Museum of Islamic Art – designed by the renowned IM Pei – thrusts out into the blue waters of the Gulf, and looks like the watchtower of a mosque formed of stacked sandstone blocks. People wander out the back to savor panoramas of the Doha bay dotted with old dhows bobbing in the water and with a clear view of the skyscraper forest of West Bay.
This elegant, intricate interior within the watchtower invites the visitor to ascend to dozens of rooms where one explores Islam’s sumptuous artistry across the globe and back in time.
Extremely colorful and elaborate volumes of the Quran have presented the holy text over the centuries. But these two suras come from one of the earliest written manuscripts in the 7th century, just 20 years after the death of Muhammad. The manuscript is also valuable because it presents an early version of the Arabic language. From the Arabian peninsula.
The museum displays many illustrated copies as well as numerous antique ones like this rare excerpt with gold lettering from the late 8th or early 9th century in kufic script.
This 10th to 11th century engraved copper fountain head from Umayyad Spain gleams with silver and gold inlay. It must have been a lovely sight when it actually spouted water.
An 11th century Egyptian oliphant made from the tusk of an elephant, with added brass and gold. Replete with rabbits, birds, and lions, it was used to rouse the troops for fighting or hunting.
12th century stucco panel from Iran, likely from a royal palace. Nestled in a kind of formal, decorative garden, the figures are shown partying under the watchful eye of that enthroned figure at the top center.
16th – 17th century Moroccan arch with intricate carved woodwork in cedar. Doorways often received loving attention in Islamic architecture.
Qatar National Museum
The eye-catching architecture of Qatar’s National Museum by Jean Nouvel is breath-taking in its complexity outside and relative simplicity inside. As we approached, we couldn’t figure out how it worked to house the displays; after visiting the interior we still couldn’t figure it out. The design looks just like a crystalline mineral called the Desert Rose, whose planes of pink gypsum and sand radiate like rose petals.
This view within the Qatar National Museum gives an idea of how the interior echoes the intersecting planes of the exterior, including broad walls and slanted discs that act as video screens. Along the staircase is a nice display of weaving patterns from Qatar. The rest of the museum offers interactive exhibits amid wide open spaces, touching on the history of the country, Bedouin and Islamic culture, and the natural environment.
View over the Old Amiri Palace, domain of Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani in the early 1900s. He ruled Qatar under the protection of the Ottoman Empire and then England. Fifty years after it was abandoned, the palace was renovated as the original National Museum. The new museum seems to have landed like a space ship next to it in 2019.
Msheireb District museums
One of a handful of older buildings that have been turned into museums in central Doha. Most have been so extensively renovated that they don’t give much sense of the originals, but they tell interesting stories. One reviews the history and people of the old Msheireb district of the center; another the story of Qatari oil explorations. This one shows more of the lifestyle from a century ago, with period décor inside and lovely decorative facades like this, opening onto a central courtyard.
(To enlarge any picture above, click on it. Also, for more pictures from Qatar, CLICK HERE to view the slideshow at the end of the itinerary page.)
