Qatar Foundation is set to open a cultural landmark dedicated to the life and work of Maqbool Fida Husain, one of the most influential modernist artists of the 20th century. Titled Lawh Wa Qalam: M. F. Husain Museum, the institution will open on November 28th, 2025, in Education City, Doha, and is designed to be the first and largest museum worldwide devoted to Husain’s art. Its collection spans six decades of practice across painting, film, tapestry, photography, poetry, and installation.

The concept of the building is closely tied to the artist’s vision, taking shape from a 2008 sketch Husain made of how he imagined the museum. The project reflects Husain’s commitment to experimentation and to dissolving boundaries between disciplines. 

all images courtesy of Qatar Foundation

spanning 60 years of the indian artist’s work

Covering more than 3,000 square meters, the museum brings together a permanent collection and immersive displays that retrace Husain’s career from the 1950s until his death in 2011. Highlights include a cycle of paintings commissioned by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, inspired by Arab civilization and completed in the artist’s final years in Qatar. The galleries will also incorporate Seeroo fi al Ardh (2009), Husain’s last major work, a multimedia installation that depicts humanity’s technological and cultural progress.

Born in India in 1913, Husain became a founding member of the Progressive Artists Group in 1947, breaking away from academic traditions and shaping a modern Indian visual language. His work traversed oil painting, serigraphy, sculpture, and cinema, with themes ranging from mythological epics and rural life to postcolonial realities and religious diversity. Celebrated internationally, his career spanned exhibitions from the Venice Biennale (1952) to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London (2014). Husain described himself as a ‘global nomad,’ forging strong ties with Europe, the United States, and the Arab world, particularly Qatar, where he spent his final years and held citizenship.

Within Education City—already home to public art installations, research centers, and universities — the new museum situates Husain’s work in dialogue with broader questions of creativity and cultural exchange. As Kholoud M. Al-Ali, executive director of community engagement and programming at Qatar Foundation, notes, the space is designed for exploration and critical engagement, connecting audiences with Husain’s art as a living legacy rather than a static archive.

Lawh Wa Qalam: M. F. Husain Museum will open on November 28th, 2025, in Education City, Doha

designed to be the first and largest museum worldwide devoted to Husain’s art

its collection spans six decades of practice across painting, film, tapestry, photography, poetry, and installation

Zuljanah Horse (2007), Maqbool Fida Husain

Sketch by Maqbool Fida Husain (2008)

project info:

name: Lawh Wa Qalam: M. F. Husain Museum
location: Education City, Doha, Qatar
opening: November 28th, 2025

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Lina Ghotmeh’s vision for the permanent national pavilion of Qatar at the Giardini of Venice has been unveiled, marking an important moment for the nation’s cultural presence at La Biennale di Venezia. The new pavilion will be only the third to join this historic landscape in more than half a century. As images of the design were revealed, Qatar’s leadership, together with Ghotmeh, described the pavilion as a space of hospitality, one that will serve as both a cultural platform and a symbol of dialogue between Qatar and the world. See designboom’s previous coverage here.

Lina Ghotmeh says: ‘Qatar is a place where the world comes to discuss serious matters while the nation continues to foster cultural diplomacy through art and creativity. This is the vocation of the permanent Qatar Pavilion as well — to be a place where visitors can discover art as a way of bringing people together.

‘The question of hospitality is at the center of the design of the Qatar Pavilion. It is about how a place can embrace people and allow these encounters, especially at this location, which is really at the heart at the Giardini. Opening up this new platform for Arab voices and presenting us in our diversity brings a new perspective to the Giardini.’

winning proposal for the Future Qatar Pavilion by Lina Ghotmeh, 2025

lina ghotmeh offers a platform for diverse arab voices

Architect Lina Ghotmeh emphasizes that Qatar’s pavilion in Venice will introduce a new language to the Giardini, one that responds to the Middle Eastern traditions of gathering and hospitality. In conversation with architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff, she noted how the pavilion’s presence will expand the Biennale’s cultural geography, offering a platform for diverse Arab voices.

The proposal reflects Qatar’s ambition to contribute a lasting voice to the Biennale’s architectural landscape in Venice. Presented during a series of celebrations hosted by Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the design was described as a place of encounter, shaped by the principles of openness and welcome. Ghotmeh spoke of the pavilion as a home for exchange, a site where visitors are invited to explore art, architecture, and collective memory through the lens of Qatar’s cultural identity.

Opening of Qatar’s Participation in the 19th International Architectural Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia, courtesy Qatar Museums

a new chapter for venice’s architectural narrative

Lina Ghotmeh’s unveiling of Qatar’s pavilion coincided with the opening of ‘Beyti Beytak. My Home is Your Home. La mia casa è la tua casa,’ the nation’s official presentation for the 19th International Architecture Exhibition. While the temporary exhibition at Palazzo Franchetti welcomed visitors with projects addressing community and care, the announcement of the permanent pavilion carried a deeper message about Qatar’s long-term commitment to cultural diplomacy. As the pavilion takes shape in the Giardini, Qatar and Lina Ghotmeh together begin writing a new chapter in the architectural narrative of Venice.

Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani in conversation with Qatar Pavilion Architect Lina Ghotmeh moderated by Architecture Critic Nicolai Ouroussoff at ACP-Palazzo Franchetti, courtesy Qatar Museums

Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani marks the site of the future Qatar Pavilion in the Giardini of La Biennale di Venezia During the 19th International Architectural Exhibition with President of La Biennale di Venezia Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro and Lina Ghotmeh, architect of the future Qatar Pavilion, photo © Simone Padovani/Getty Images for Qatar Museums

Community Centre by Architect Yasmeen Lari on the site of the future Qatar Pavilion in the Giardini of La Biennale di Venezia, photo © Simone Padovani/Getty Images for Qatar Museums

project info:

name: Qatar National Pavilion

architect: Lina Ghotmeh

location: Giardini della Biennale, Venice

program: La Biennale Di Venezia 

exhibition: Beyti Beytak. My home is your home. La mia casa è la tua casa.

commissioner: H.E. Sheikha Al Mayassa, Qatar Museums | @qatar_museums

organizer: Art Mill Museum

curator: Aurélien Lemonier (Art Mill Museum Curator of Architecture), Sean Anderson (Associate Professor at Cornell

University), Virgile Alexandre

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As Expo 2025 Osaka unfolds under the theme ‘Designing Future Society for Our Lives,’ the Qatar Pavilion by Kengo Kuma & Associates introduces an architectural meditation on dualities: land and sea, tradition and innovation, Qatar and Japan. Located on the waterfront site of Yumeshima Island, the pavilion brings together the fluidity of fabric, the solidity of timber, and the stories etched into coastlines, both real and remembered. Inside, an exhibition has been curated and designed by OMA / AMO, led by Samir Bantal. See designboom’s previous coverage here!

The pavilion, photographed by Iwan Baan, comes together in the form of a sweeping architectural gesture shaped like a dhow, the traditional sailing vessel once vital to trade and pearling in the Arabian Gulf. Its curving white canopy, suspended from a finely joined timber frame, evokes both a sail catching the breeze and the tensile calm of Japanese and Qatari wood craftsmanship. The architects note that the dhow is more than symbolic. It is a shared vernacular that represents human-scale exchange across water.

The Qatar Pavilion evokes a traditional dhow sailing vessel | image © Iwan Baan

Kengo Kuma Blends Heritage Through Craft

Kengo Kuma & Associates’ Qatar Pavilion is a celebration of construction methods as much as form at Expo 2025 Osaka. The pavilion incorporates timber joinery techniques drawn from both Qatari and Japanese traditions, creating a structure that appears both ancient and futuristic. According to the design team, this synthesis of techniques reflects a respect for cultural continuity and a shared sensibility rooted in the sea. The architects set the tone with an entry framed by poetic verse. Outside the pavilion, vitrines display poems by Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed bin Thani and Ahmed bin Hassan Al-Muhannadi, printed against coastal imagery. The visuals replicate the gradient of the Gulf’s waters — deep indigo fading to aquamarine — as seen by sailors returning to shore.

A sequence of transitions define the experience, as the interior leads visitors from the maritime realm into the arid terrain of inland Qatar. A series of sand samples, each distinct in tone and texture, conjure the deserts that lie beyond the coast. Wall graphics reference the petroglyphs of Al Jassasiya, carved into stone by generations of inhabitants. The Pavilion was commissioned by Qatar’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry with creative and content direction led by the Qatar Blueprint, a think tank within Chairperson’s Office of Qatar Museums.

the lightweight structure uses Qatari and Japanese joinery techniques | image © Iwan Baan

the exhibition by OMA / AMO

Titled From the Coastline, We Progress, the OMA / AMO-curated exhibition deepens the narrative established by Kengo Kuma & Associates’ architecture, bringing an immersive journey into the nation’s past, present, and future as seen through its relationship with the sea. Developed under the direction of Samir Bantal, the exhibition transforms Qatar’s 563-kilometer coastline into a story of environmental adaptation, cultural resilience, and strategic transformation.

Visitors are first guided by a visual gradient that transitions from oceanic blues to desert tones, leading them toward the entrance. Aerial photographs of Qatar’s coastline — particularly the protected area of Al Zubarah — are displayed alongside poetry by Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed bin Thani and Ahmed bin Hassan Al-Muhannadi, reinforcing the country’s poetic and ecological heritage. Inside, tubes of sand sourced from different desert zones act as tactile markers, both material and metaphorical, guiding the flow of movement through the space.

white flowing fabric captures both breeze and heritage | image © Iwan Baan

A deep blue curtain, created with Inside Outside, wraps the main exhibition hall, evoking the stratified densities of the sea. Within, a wedge-shaped aluminum structure houses twelve niches, each dedicated to a specific coastal site such as Khor Al-Udaid, Al Wakrah, Old Doha Port, or Ras Laffan. These vignettes combine panoramic imagery, tactile maps, and colored beads that signal each site’s role in Qatari life — whether industrial, ecological, cultural, or diplomatic.

At the heart of the experience is a cinematic installation modeled after a traditional Qatari winter majlis. The three-channel film, directed by AMO and Samir Bantal, interlaces archival material with new footage — British Petroleum reels from the 1950s and panoramic shots by filmmaker Ron Fricke — to explore Qatar’s complex modern identity through its land, sea, and people.

Before exiting, visitors encounter a compact display of traditional objects on loan from the National Museum of Qatar — relics from pearl diving and domestic life that serve as reminders of the material culture that once sustained the nation’s shoreline communities. This exhibition continues AMO’s long-standing engagement in the Gulf, complementing previous work on the Qatar National Library, the Qatar Foundation headquarters, and the landmark Making Doha exhibition in 2019.

poems by Qatar’s founding figures greet visitors at the entrance | image © Iwan Baan

Sou Fujimoto’s Grand Ring is framed by tensile openings in the fabric structure | image © Iwan Baan

interior exhibits trace Qatar’s transformation from sea to land | image © Iwan Baan

a three-screen film and sea curtain immerse guests in coastal stories | image © Iwan Baan

image © Marco Cappelletti, courtesy of OMA / AMO

pearl divers, merchants, and women’s roles are spotlighted in the narrative | image © Iwan Baan

project info:

name: Qatar Pavilion

architecture: Kengo Kuma & Associates | @kkaa_official

location: Expo 2025 Osaka | @expo2025japan

curator: OMA / AMO | @oma.eu

creative & content direction: Qatar Blueprint

commissioner: Qatar’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry

photography: © Iwan Baan | @iwanbaan

The post kengo kuma’s qatar pavilion at expo 2025 osaka highlights qatari ships and japanese joinery appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

Qatar selects Lebanese architect Lina Ghotmeh to design its new national pavilion in the historic Giardini of Venice, one of the two historic venues of La Biennale di Venezia. It is set to become the first permanent structure to be added to the site in three decades.

Since its inauguration in 1895, the Giardini has been the symbolic heart of La Biennale di Venezia, hosting national pavilions that operate as architectural emissaries of their countries. However, only two permanent additions have been made over the last half-century: Australia’s in 1988, and South Korea’s in 1995. Qatar now joins this rarefied group — a reflection of its sustained cultural investment and growing architectural voice on the global stage. See designboom’s coverage of the Qatar Pavilion’s announcement here.

The move marks Lina Ghotmeh’s return to Venice — at the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale, her team presented the design process behind its Stone Garden housing project situated in Beirut, Lebanon. Through the project, the team showcased the ability of architecture to function as reconciliation and resilience in times of crisis.

Padiglione Centrale Giardini | image by Andrea Avezzu, courtesy La Biennale di Venezia

ARCHITECT Lina Ghotmeh selected for her contextual work

Selected through an international competition, Lina Ghotmeh is set to bring her celebrated sensibility to the permanent Qatar Pavilion at the Giardini of Venice. The Lebanese-born, Paris-based architect is known for her deeply contextual work, often addressing memory, territory, and craft through architecture that speaks in quiet but powerful tones.

‘My team and I are deeply honoured to have been chosen for this uniquely exciting and significant project,’ Ghotmeh shares. ‘Qatar is a cultural beacon for the entire MENASA region. It is thrilling to be given this opportunity to design Qatar’s Pavilion on the historic grounds of the Giardini of La Biennale di Venezia.’

According to an official statement, Ghotmeh’s concept stood out for its ‘architectural clarity and thoughtful response to the Pavilion’s historic context,’ a design approach that responds into its surroundings while offering flexibility for exhibitions within.

Lina Ghotmeh | image © Kimberly Lloyd

qatar PERMANENT pavilion symbolizes international Exchange

Praising Lina Ghotmeh’s appointment as designer for the Qatar Pavilion at the Giardini of Venice, Qatar Museums Chairperson Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani says: ‘Her work is inspiring new and traditional audiences with its sensitivity to the human condition and its confident, innovative flair. Lina has wholeheartedly embraced our vision for the Qatar Pavilion as a platform for the artistic, architectural, and cultural creativity of our nation and the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia.’

During the upcoming Venice Architecture Biennale, opening on May 10th, 2025, Qatar will present a two-part exhibition titled ‘Beyti Beytak. My home is your home. La mia casa è la tua casa.’ Commissioned by H.E. Sheikha Al Mayassa and organized by the future Art Mill Museum, the exhibition will explore architectural expressions of hospitality, domesticity, and cultural exchange across the MENASA region.

Lina Ghotmeh’s model of Beirut’s Stone Garden housing at Venice Architecture Biennale 2021

The first part of the exhibition will be installed directly on the future pavilion site and feature the Community Centre by Pakistani architect Yasmeen Lari, previously seen in Qatar’s MANZAR exhibition (see designboom’s coverage here). The second part, hosted at Palazzo Franchetti, brings together works by over twenty modern and contemporary architects — from regional legends such as Raj Rewal and Minnette de Silva to contemporary voices like Marina Tabassum and Abeer Seikaly.

Curated by Aurélien Lemonier of the Art Mill Museum and Sean Anderson from Cornell University, with collaboration from Virgile Alexandre, the exhibition responds to Biennale curator Carlo Ratti’s 2025 theme: Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective. Discover what else we know so far about the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 here!

Lina Ghotmeh designs Bahrain’s National Pavilion for Expo 2025 Osaka | image © Lina Ghotmeh—Architecture

This announcement follows a 2024 Protocol of Cooperation signed between Qatar Museums and the Municipality of Venice, underscoring a shared commitment to cultural and socio-economic collaboration. For Qatar, the new pavilion symbolizes not only a strategic cultural foothold in Europe, but also an invitation for global audiences to engage with the architectural narratives shaping the MENASA region today.

Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, President of La Biennale di Venezia, acknowledged the significance of this addition: ‘Venice is the only European city to have had, since the year 1000 CE, a name in Arabic — Bunduqiyyah — a fact that testifies to the teeming mixture of languages and ethnicities that have long sheltered here. In the spirit of curiosity, exploration, and sincere human exchange, I welcome Qatar to the Giardini, as a powerful global source of creativity and cross-cultural understanding.’

With Lina Ghotmeh leading the project, Qatar’s new pavilion is set to be a physical anchor and a symbolic gesture, a space of belonging, exchange, and architectural resonance on one of the world’s most important stages.

Serpentine Pavilion 2023 designed by Lina Ghotmeh | image © Iwan Baan

project info:

name: Qatar National Pavilion

architect: Lina Ghotmeh

location: Giardini della Biennale, Venice

program: La Biennale Di Venezia 

exhibition: Beyti Beytak. My home is your home. La mia casa è la tua casa.

commissioner: H.E. Sheikha Al Mayassa, Qatar Museums | @qatar_museums

organizer: Art Mill Museum

curator: Aurélien Lemonier (Art Mill Museum Curator of Architecture), Sean Anderson (Associate Professor at Cornell

University), Virgile Alexandre

The post lina ghotmeh selected to design permanent qatar pavilion at venice biennale’s giardini appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

In the heart of Doha’s Education City, designboom steps inside the Al-Mujadilah Center and Mosque for Women, a groundbreaking space designed to empower women through worship, education, and community. The project, conceived by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation, and designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R), spans 4,600 square meters. It is the first mosque built specifically for women in the Muslim world. The building combines traditional elements with a forward-thinking spatial language, reflecting Islamic values of sincerity (ikhlas), service (khidma), and knowledge (ilm), while also addressing the evolving needs of women in religious, educational, and social domains.

‘To make a mosque for women was a really big challenge. It’s the first purpose-built women’s mosque anywhere, and we were very drawn to that. It’s also a hybrid building — a place for education and work,’ Elizabeth Diller, co-founder of DS+R tells designboom during our tour at the Al-Mujadilah Center and Mosque for Women. ‘Bringing those together under one roof, with classes and discourse and debate, was very important, because there was really no space for that to happen. It’s a paradigm-shifting thing that had to be translated in some form.’

all images by Iwan Baan

Al-Mujadilah hosts various activities under its perforated roof

Al-Mujadilah is both a place of worship and a meeting point for intellectual and civic discussions. Named after a Quranic figure who engaged in dialogue, the center is led by Dr. Sohaira Siddiqui, a scholar of Islamic Studies at Georgetown University. The center hosts a variety of programs, from daily prayer and study to Jadal, an annual summit where voices from around the world come together to discuss the role of Muslim women in public life. When designing the program for the Al-Mujadilah Center and Mosque for Women, the team conducted extensive surveys to understand the challenges Muslim women face and their needs in a space like this. The research revealed three primary areas of interest: capacity building, including leadership, public speaking, and well-being; religious education that fosters critical conversations, rather than just traditional instruction; and community building. In a diverse city like Doha, creating a sense of belonging is crucial. 

The building’s design by New York-based studio DS+R is both symbolic and performative. A large, flowing roof covers the space, rising to shelter the prayer hall before gently sloping down into the educational areas. ‘The roof is perforated with 5,500 small, conical openings designed to diffuse natural light throughout the space,’ Diller describes. ‘As the light shifts during the day, it softly washes the floor without allowing direct sunrays in—crucial in Qatar’s intense climate. Thermally efficient, only 5% of the roof’s surface is perforated, yet the conical shape allows 45% of the underside to glow. Structurally, the large steel span eliminates the need for interior columns, creating an open, uninterrupted space where visitors can see olive trees and feel a connection to the surrounding landscape. Support spaces are tucked along the periphery to maintain this openness.’ The mosque’s relationship to nature is intentional and layered. Two olive trees pierce through the roof, anchoring the main hall with the living symbol of peace and continuity. Landscape design draws from the regional archetype of an oasis, with wind-shaped dunes encircling a lush garden core. Materials like volcanic stone in the ablution areas and full-height glass in classrooms make the center more open and grounded in nature.

the building combines traditional elements with a forward-thinking spatial language

bespoke design for collective worship and learning in doha

Inside, the 875-square-meter prayer hall is aligned 17 degrees off-grid to orient toward Mecca, with a mihrab skylight spotlighting the niche at its core. Custom furnishings and a monumental hand-tufted carpet made of

New Zealand wool reinterprets traditional Islamic motifs at a collective scale, designed for up to 750 worshippers.

‘We found a beautiful Turkish prayer rug—just large enough for a single worshiper. We photographed it, digitized it, and then expanded it to fill the entire space. In the process, it became low-resolution, and we loved that. The colors became more raked and abstracted, yet the original composition remained—a central field framed by a border,’ shares Diller. ‘One key element we preserved was the 1.25-meter module, subtly embedded and slightly recessed into the surface. This unit defined a “row,” a spatial cue for individual worshipers. As people enter, they intuitively begin to define a space for themselves.’ During Ramadan, the hall extends into a flexible multipurpose area, boosting capacity to 1,300. Nearby, classrooms and a curated library housing over 8,000 volumes, including Islamic texts and works by Muslim women.

two olive trees pierce through the roof

the minaret draws from the traditional prayer ritual

A standout architectural gesture, the minaret is reimagined for the 21st century. A 39-meter mesh tower of speakers rises and descends daily, echoing the traditional muezzin’s call to prayer through kinetic ritual. Suspended in tension, the structure evokes the mashrabiya screen — a nod to vernacular Islamic architecture — while embracing a poetic blend of performance, technology, and faith. ‘Traditionally, the muezzin goes up the minaret and delivers the call to prayer to the community. Over the years, he was replaced by prerecorded prayers and speakers. We couldn’t bring back the muezzin, but we wanted to bring some of that tradition back into the call to prayer, which is really significant. So there are speakers that are going up. When the prayer’s over, they descend down slowly. We wanted to make this into a bit of a performance. Five times a day, it happens — and at night, it looks like a miracle,’  Elizabeth Diller explains.

Designed to achieve LEED Gold and GSAS 4-star certification, Al-Mujadilah also champions environmental responsibility with native plantings, recycled irrigation, low-flush systems, and energy-efficient fixtures. Elizabeth Diller describes the project as a deeply personal opportunity to reinterpret the mosque as a sacred space and a civic institution. ‘As a woman, the project was a special opportunity for me to design a space exclusively for women that is flexible and responsive to real-time, everyday needs,’ she reflects.

5,500 conical openings perforate the roof

addressing the evolving needs of women in religious, educational, and social domains

project info:

name: Al-Mujadilah Center and Mosque for Women

architect: Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) | @diller_scofidio_renfro

location: Doha, Qatar

area: 4,600 square meters

concept: Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation | @qatarfoundation

mosque architecture advisor: Ziad Jamaleddine
lead consultant: Halcrow
landscape architecture: Atelier Miething
structural & facade engineer, concept & schematic design: Werner Sobek
technology specialist (AV, acoustics): Charcoal Blue
lighting design: Buro Happold
signage design: IN-FO.CO
sustainability/LEED consultancy: Qatar Green Leaders
project management: ASTAD
minaret, minbar, and light cone fabricator: Metalex

photographer: Iwan Baan | @iwanbaan

The post DS+R completes al-mujadilah, the world’s first contemporary mosque for women in doha appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

During the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, Qatar will present a two-part exhibition titled ‘Beyti Beytak. My home is your home. La mia casa è la tua casa.’, commissioned by H.E. Sheikha Al Mayassa and Qatar Museums and organised by the future Art Mill Museum. Pakistani architect Yasmeen Lari‘s Community Centre will be on view at the site of the future Qatar Pavilion, located on a central site in the Giardini, adjacent to the iconic Book Pavilion. Lari’s Community Centre installation was recently on view at Qatar’s National Museum in the exhibition MANZAR: Art and Architecture from Pakistan 1940s to Today. Meanwhile, the second part of the exhibition will take place at ACP-Palazzo Franchetti, bringing together works by over 20 modern and contemporary architects from across the MENASA region.

Padiglione Centrale Giardini | image by Andrea Avezzu, courtesy La Biennale di Venezia

the exhibition explores menasa region’s cultural hospitality

Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chairperson of Qatar Museums and commissioner of the Qatar Pavilion, emphasized the pavilion’s role in cultural diplomacy: ‘La Biennale di Venezia is the world’s pre-eminent gathering in art and architecture, and the Giardini is the historic landscape where extraordinary pavilions stand as ambassadors for their nations. Qatar is proud to take its place in this international assembly, advancing our role as a global leader in cultural diplomacy and providing an unparalleled platform for giving voice to the creative talent of our nation and the MENASA region.’

The Qatar Pavilion’s inaugural exhibition will be curated by Aurélien Lemonier (Art Mill Museum) and Sean Anderson (Cornell University), with the collaboration of Virgile Alexandre to bridge historical and contemporary architectural narratives of the MENASA region. This concept, titled ‘Beyti Beytak. My home is your home. La mia casa è la tua casa.’ — a phrase denoting cultural hospitality in three languages — will showcase the multitudes and commonalities of contemporary architectural expressions of hospitality and cultural exchange across the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia. It will reinforce the 19th International Architecture Exhibition theme, Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective, set forth by the Biennale’s curator Carlo Ratti. Among the figures represented are modernist profiles such as Raj Rewal (India), Nayyar Ali Dada (Pakistan), Abdel Wahed el Wakil (Egypt), and Minnette de Silva (Sri Lanka), alongside contemporary names like Marina Tabassum (Bangladesh), Sameep Padora (India), Abeer Seikaly (Jordan), and Sumaya Dabbagh (UAE).

Yasmeen Lari, Community Center, Doha, 2024, © Qatar Museums

Regional Architectural Legacies at venice architecture biennale

The establishment of the pavilion at the Biennale follows a Protocol of Cooperation signed between Qatar Museums and the Municipality of Venice in June 2024, strengthening cultural and socio-economic collaboration between Qatar and Italy. This makes Qatar only the third nation in the last 50 years to secure a permanent presence in the venue, joining Australia and the Republic of Korea.

Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, President of La Biennale di Venezia, welcomed Qatar’s participation: ‘Venice is the only European city to have had, since the year 1000 CE, a name in Arabic, Bunduqiyyah, a fact that testifies to the teeming mixture of languages and ethnicities that have long sheltered here. In the spirit of curiosity, exploration, and sincere human exchange that characterizes Venice and its Biennale, I welcome Qatar to the Giardini, as a powerful global source of creativity and cross-cultural understanding.’

Abeer Seikaly, Weaving a Home, 2020, © Abeer Seikaly

Abeer Seikaly, Weaving a Home, 2020, © Abeer Seikaly

Ahmed Hossam Saafan, Dawar El Ezba Cultural Center, Cairo, 2019, © Ahmed Hossam Saafan

Ahmed Hossam Saafan, Dawar El Ezba Cultural Center , Cairo, 2019, © Ahmed Hossam Saafan

installation view of Your Ghosts Are Mine on view at ACP–Palazzo Franchetti at 2024 Venice Art Biennale | photo by David Levene. courtesy Qatar Museums

Kengo Kuma: Onomatopoeia Architecture exhibition | image © designboom

project info:

name: Qatar National Pavilion

location: Giardini della Biennale, Venice

program: La Biennale di Venezia

exhibition: Beyti Beytak. My home is your home. La mia casa è la tua casa.

commissioner: H.E. Sheikha Al Mayassa, Qatar Museums | @qatar_museums

organizer: Art Mill Museum

curator: Aurélien Lemonier (Art Mill Museum Curator of Architecture), Sean Anderson (Associate Professor at Cornell

University), Virgile Alexandre

The post qatar opens permanent national pavilion at the giardini of the venice biennale appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

Qatar is redefining the boundaries of creativity and accessibility with its public art program, spearheaded by Qatar Museums (QM). Through a dynamic array of installations that weave art into the fabric of daily life, the nation has turned its urban and natural landscapes into a living, breathing gallery. From the bustling streets of Doha to the serene expanses of the desert, Qatar’s public spaces showcase an extraordinary array of contemporary pieces, including monumental sculptures, and interactive murals. Art enthusiasts can find striking works at every turn: Hamad International Airport welcomes travelers with bold installations, while parks, stadiums, and vibrant cityscapes offer unexpected artistic encounters. Highlights include Richard Serra’s towering East-West/West-East in the desert, Olafur Eliasson’s ethereal Shadows Traveling on the Sea of the Day, and Louise Bourgeois’ Maman, a colossal spider sculpture standing at the Qatar National Convention Centre. Read on to discover some of the most iconic pieces of Qatar’s ever-expanding public art landscape.

Richard Serra (b. 1938, United States) East-West/West-East, 2014 weathering steel, 14.7 to 16.7 metres in height (each) Brouq Nature Reserve, Zekreet | photo © Iwan Baan courtesy of Qatar Museums

Rashid Johnson’s Village of the Sun

Located in the park in front of Doha International Airport (DIA), which opened in 2005, Rashid Johnson’s 2024 installation Village of the Sun occupies a central area that welcomed visitors during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. It serves as a tribute to the multicultural and diverse people who form the broader community in Qatar. Inspired by Johnson’s Broken Men series (2013), Village of the Sun consists of four walls adorned with multicoloured ceramic figures that are simultaneously recognizable and abstract. Through this work, Johnson honors the rich tradition of mosaics as a fine craft bridging various artistic mediums while elevating it to contemporary art discourse. The dynamic and vibrant figures invite visitors to connect with the installation, recognizing themselves within its forms and celebrating our shared humanity.

Rashid Johnson, Village of the Sun, 2024 | image courtesy of Qatar Museums

Ernesto Neto’s Slug Turtle, TemplEarth

Ernesto Neto’s Slug Turtle, TemplEarth (2022), located in the Al Zubarah Desert, is a captivating tribute to the nations that participated in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. The installation features eight football goalposts arranged in an octagonal ring, with each post symbolizing four of the 32 competing nations. This thoughtful work celebrates the unifying power of sports, bringing together athletes and spectators in a shared experience of connection and camaraderie.

Shilpa Gupta’s I Live Under Your Sky Too

At MIA Park, Shilpa Gupta presents a light installation featuring an animated sentence in her handwriting that spills out of the lines of a ruled book, reading I Live Under Your Sky Too in English, Arabic, and Malayalam. By incorporating national and migrant languages, the work emphasizes the shared space we inhabit.

Gupta’s art delves into the social, cultural, and political constructs of our time, highlighting the connections and divisions shaped by religious and political forces. Her installation resonates with the universal themes of unity and coexistence.

Shilpa Gupta (b. 1976). I Live Under Your Sky Too, 2022. LED Light. Photo: courtesy of Years of Culture ©2022

KAWS’ THE PROMISE

KAWS’ THE PROMISE (2022), located in the Dadu Garden of the Children’s Museum of Qatar, is a monumental bronze and steel sculpture measuring approximately 6.1 by 4.3 by 2.8 meters. The artwork portrays a parent and child captivated by a globe, blending familiar cartoon-like forms with deeply human emotions.

Commissioned for Dadu, THE PROMISE explores themes of family, environmentalism, global citizenship, and love. Its universally relatable imagery serves as a poignant reminder of our shared responsibility to care for one another and our planet, resonating with audiences of all ages. 

KAWS. THE PROMISE, 2022 | image courtesy Qatar Museums

Olafur Eliasson’s Shadows Traveling on the Sea of the Day

Created by Olafur Eliasson in 2022, Shadows Traveling on the Sea of the Day is a sprawling installation in Al Zubarah, featuring 20 mirrored pavilions arranged across 163.5 by 125.7 meters. Ten pavilions form a five-pointed star at the center, while the rest follow a precise fivefold symmetry inspired by quasicrystals and Islamic geometric patterns.

Each pavilion’s mirrored underside reflects its semi-circular frame as a complete ring, creating an illusion of objects piercing through reality and reflection. By incorporating visitors and surroundings into the mirrored surfaces, Eliasson crafts a mesmerizing and subtly disorienting experience.

Olafur Eliasson, سفرالظالليفبحرالنهار (Shadows travelling on the sea of the day), 2022 | photo: Iwan Baan courtesy of the artist; neugerriemschneider, Berlin; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Los Angeles. © 2022 Olafur Eliasson

Martin Creed’s 1361

Martin Creed’s 1361 (2019–2021) is a striking neon installation measuring 170 by 4950 cm, now located in Sheraton Hall. Originally created in 1999 for a temporary commission in Hackney, the piece gained new significance when installed on the façade of QM Gallery Al Riwaq during Qatar’s blockade.

With its bold presence in the urban landscape, 1361 delivers a moment of reflection and reassurance to passersby, embodying Creed’s signature post-conceptualist style. Widely regarded as one of the great works of late 20th-century conceptual art, it continues to inspire and provoke thought in its new setting.

Martin Creed (b. 1968, United Kingdom), 1361, 2019, Neon, 170 x 4950 cm, Sheraton Hall | photo © Iwan Baan, courtesy of Qatar Museums

Isa Genzken’s Rose

Rose III by Isa Genzken is an eight-metre-high sculpture of a single long-stemmed rose in cast aluminum and galvanized steel, located in the atrium of M7. Based on an actual rose picked by the artist, it was scanned in 3D and reproduced on a monumental scale. Genzken first created her Rose sculpture in the early 1990s, and it has since become one of her most iconic works.

Rose III, Isa Genzken, 2016 | image courtesy of Qatar Museums

Richard Serra’s East-West/West-East

Nestled within a natural corridor shaped by gypsum plateaus, Richard Serra’s East-West/West-East stretches over a kilometer in length, traversing the Brouq Nature Reserve and connecting the Gulf’s waters. Unveiled in 2014, the installation features four towering steel plates, ranging in height from 14.7 to 16.7 meters, aligned precisely with each other and the surrounding gypsum plateaus. Despite the expansive distance between them, all four plates remain visible and accessible from either end of the sculpture. Created by world-renowned artist Richard Serra, East-West/West-East marks his second public piece in the Middle East, following 7, installed at MIA Park in 2011.

Richard Serra (b. 1938, United States) 7 (detail), 2011 Steel, 24.6 metres MIA Park | photo © Iwan Baan courtesy of Qatar Museums

Damien Hirst’s The Miraculous Journey

Created by Damien Hirst in 2013, The Miraculous Journey is a powerful series of fourteen monumental bronze sculptures, ranging from 4 to 11 meters in height. Installed at the Sidra Medical Centre, a hospital dedicated to women and children, the artwork visually narrates the journey of human gestation—from conception to birth.

This thought-provoking installation forms a compelling dialogue with its location, celebrating the wonders of life while resonating with the hospital’s mission. As one of Hirst’s most audacious commissions, The Miraculous Journey has sparked conversations both locally and globally, ensuring its place as a catalyst for debate and reflection for years to come.

Damien Hirst (b. 1965, United Kingdom), The Miraculous Journey, 2013, Bronze, 4 to 11 metres in height, Sidra Medical Centre | photo © Iwan Baan courtesy of Qatar Museums

Katharina Fritsch’s Hahn

Katharina Fritsch’s Hahn (2013) is a striking ultramarine-blue sculpture of a domestic cockerel, displayed at the Sheraton Hotel. Standing 4.72 meters tall, the piece was modeled after a taxidermy rooster, digitally scanned and enlarged to monumental proportions.

Fritsch’s work often begins with archetypal forms, which she transforms through dramatic shifts in scale and color. With its bold presence, the blue cockerel embodies the ethereal, immaterial quality characteristic of her art, turning an everyday subject into a powerful and surreal statement.

Katharina Fritsch (b. 1956, Germany), Hahn, 2013, Glass-fibre reinforced polyester resin fixed on a stainless-steel supporting structure, 440 × 440 × 150 cm, Sheraton Hotel, Katara Hospitality, Photo © Iwan Baan, courtesy of Qatar Museums

Louise Bourgeois’ Maman

Crafted from marble, bronze, and stainless steel, Maman stands an imposing 9.1 meters tall at the Qatar National Convention Centre, within Qatar Foundation. While abstract in form, Louise Bourgeois’ work is deeply autobiographical, exploring themes of betrayal, anxiety, and loneliness. This iconic steel spider, one of Bourgeois’ most celebrated creations, serves as a poignant tribute to her mother, a weaver in France, whose meticulous artistry and strength inspired the sculpture’s towering presence.

Louise Bourgeois (1911–2020, France-United States) Maman, 2012 Marble, bronze and stainless steel,9.1 metres Qatar National Convention Center, Qatar Foundation | photo © Iwan Baan courtesy of Qatar Museums

Daniel Arsham’s Sports Ball Galaxy

Created by Daniel Arsham in 2012, Sports Ball Galaxy is a striking installation displayed at the 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum. Measuring 6.3 by 7.8 meters, this chandelier-like sculpture features an array of sports balls—including basketballs, footballs, and cricket balls—crafted from foam-filled cast hydro-stone and pigment. The balls are strung along a steel cable, suspended from a ceiling-mounted bracket.

The single shadowy hue coating the balls reflects Arsham’s signature aesthetic, giving the piece a raw, unfinished appearance. This deliberate lack of color also alludes to the artist’s personal experience with colorblindness, encouraging viewers to question conventional uses of color. A hallmark of Arsham’s work, the theme of ‘erosion’ is evident in the weathered, deteriorated surfaces of the balls, creating the impression that the artwork exists in a liminal space between the contemporary and the ancient.

Daniel Arsham (b. 1980, United States), Sports Ball Galaxy, 2012, Cast Hydro-stone, 6.3 x 7.8 m, Qatar Olympics Sports Museum | photo © Iwan Baan courtesy of Qatar Museums

Urs Fischer’s Untitled Lamp/Bear

Urs Fischer’s Untitled Lamp/Bear (2005–2006) is a monumental bronze sculpture standing 7 meters tall, located in the Retail Gallery Departure Hall of Hamad International Airport (HIA).

This striking yellow bear, illuminated by a towering lamp, welcomes travelers with a playful yet evocative presence. The artwork celebrates the joy of travel and the nostalgia of revisiting childhood, transforming a simple toy into a whimsical and fully realized artistic creation.

Urs Fischer (b. 1973, Switzerland) Untitled Lamp/Bear, 2005-2006 Bronze, 7 x 6.5 x 7.5 metres Hamad International Airport (HIA) Retail Gallery Departure Hall | photo © Iwan Baan courtesy of Qatar Museums

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A first-of-its-kind exhibition at Qatar’s National Museum in Doha sheds light on Pakistan’s visual arts and architectural practices from the 1940s to today. Charting the nation’s creative evolution over nearly eighty decades, since it achieved independence from British rule in 1947, the show offers an in-depth look with more than 200 works in different mediums, ranging from paintings, drawings, videos, and installations, as well as newly commissioned works by artists and architects. Its title, MANZAR: Art and Architecture from Pakistan 1940s to Today, draws from the word ‘manzar’ — which in Arabic and Urdu means scene, view, landscape, or perspective — highlighting the multifaceted perspectives on view by creatives coming both from Pakistan and its diasporas. 

The exhibition, on view until January 31st, 2025, is organized by Art Mill Museum, Qatar’s future museum of international modern and contemporary art developed by Qatar Museums and set to open in 2030 in Doha. MANZAR marks the starting point in the museum’s initiative to engage with non-Western art histories, placing perspectives from South Asia through the decades into global social and cultural narratives. ‘This rigorous, scholarly exhibition looking at the significant practices of artists and architects from Pakistan and their connection to the wider history of modern and contemporary art reveals precisely how the future Art Mill Museum will be a vital center for international modern and contemporary art,’ explains Catherine Grenier, Director of Concept of the future Art Mill Museum. ‘As MANZAR so vibrantly demonstrates, our aim is to engage global art histories since 1850 through exhibitions grounded in multidisciplinary and non-hierarchical histories.’ 

NEW LANGUAGES (front to back):
Zahoor ul Akhlaq, Untitled (1975)
15 steel pyramids,
Courtesy of Taimur Hassan Collection
| Zahoor ul Akhlaq, View from the Tropic of Illegitimate Reality (1975–1978), Acrylic on canvas, Art Mill Museum Collection, Qatar Museums, Doha
| Zahoor ul Akhlaq, Plants 5 (1988), Acrylic on canvas,
Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art Collection, Qatar Museums, Doha | all images courtesy of Qatar Museums © Photo: Kuzey Kaya Buzlu

12 themed gallerieS TRACE pakistan’S CREATIVE EVOLUTION

Curated by Caroline Hancock, Aurélien Lemonier, and Zarmeene Shah, MANZAR unfolds across twelve thematic sections, extending from the gallery spaces of the National Museum of Qatar to its palatial courtyard outside. Throughout, it takes a loosely chronological approach beginning from Pakistan’s conception as an independent nation in 1947, and weaving through sections dedicated to aesthetic experiments and calligraphy, nation-building, regionalism, neo-miniature, the urban vernacular, and the politics of land and water. Filmed interviews and archival materials, alongside a series of public performances and talks, accompany the exhibition, offering further insights into the narratives, perspectives and histories that shape the country’s creative landscape.

With an exhibition design by Pakistani architect Raza Ali Dada, MANZAR starts with a selection of works by pioneering artists who worked under British rule between 1858 and 1947, such as Abdur Rahman Chughtai and Zainul Abedin. Through multiple mediums the narrative unfolds to the post-Partition era, featuring artists such as Anna Molka Ahmed who explored ideas of national identity, modernization, and urban transformation in the nation. Beyond, exploring form and identity in art, MANZAR presents modernist explorations by Pakistani artists who have contributed to and drawn from global perspectives while developing distinct visual languages rooted in the region. Aesthetic experiments by leading figures, like Shakir Ali, Zubeida Agha, and Sadequian, then reflect how their personal modes of expression relate to urban centers in the subcontinent, including modern day Pakistan and Bangladesh. The neo-miniature movement of the 1990s is further represented by renowned artists such as Shahzia Sikander, who transformed traditional miniature painting into a contemporary medium of personal and cultural reflection. Other important artists working in the diaspora whose works are on view include Naiza Khan in London and Bani Abidi in Berlin.

PLACE AND DISPLACEMENT (left to right):
Zarnia, Father’s House 1898–1994 (1994),
Etching on Arches cover buff paper,
Courtesy of Taimur Hassan Collection
| Zarnia, My House 1937 -1958 (1994),
Etching on Arches cover buff paper, chine-collé on handmade Nepalese paper,
Courtesy of Taimur Hassan Collection | David Alesworth, Lawrence Gardens (Bagh-e-Jinnah), 2014, Hand embroidery in dyed sheep’s wool and other fibres into an antique Kashan carpet, Courtesy of Dr Furqaan Ahmed Collection

a look at the nation’s art and architecture from 1947 to today

A strong architectural component looks at the evolution of Pakistan’s architectural identity in response to modernist influences alongside regional concerns. Early works include projects by Western architects such as Louis Kahn and Konstantínos Doxiádis, who were involved in building institutional structures and completing the urban plan of the new capital city during the formative years of Pakistan as a nation-state. MANZAR then showcases the contributions of major Pakistani architects, rooting the dialogue in the local context, including Nayyar Ali Dada, Yasmeen Lari, and Kamil Khan Mumtaz, who have been advocating for regionalism and environmentally sustainable design.

In the courtyard of the Palace of Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani, multimedia installations include the emergency, log-system bamboo shelters by Yasmeen Lari and the Heritage Foundation of Pakistan for flood-affected victims, featuring fabric coverings by textile expert Noorjehan Bilgrami. Environmental concerns play a key role throughout, echoed further across the works of Karachi LaJamia, Amin Gulgee, and Omer Wasim. 

FORMALIST EXPERIMENTS (left to right):
F.N Souza, The Elder (1955), Oil on board, Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art Collection, Qatar Museums, Doha
| Sadequain, Figure in a Landscape, (1962),
Oil on board,
Courtesy of Taimur Hassan Collection
| Shakir Ali, Village (1962),
Oil on canvas,
Courtesy of Moneeza Hashmi Collection

organized by the FUTURE art mill museum

MANZAR is is organised by the future Art Mill Museum and presented in collaboration with the National Museum of Qatar. Designed by ELEMENTAL, led by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Alejandro Aravena, the museum will be located along Doha Corniche, at the site of the current Qatar Flour Mills Company, and is set to open in 2030. Its international art collection, assembled over the past 40 years, will bring together multidisciplinary works of great diversity dating from 1830 to the present. A pioneering institution in the non-Western world, it will represent the modern and contemporary arts of all regions of the globe on an equal basis, engaging local and international audiences alike through multiple narratives of art history.

NEO MINIATURE (front to back), Aisha Khalid, You Have Set Me Apart (2017), Fabric and gold-plated steel pins, Art Mill Museum Collection, Qatar Museums, Doha | Khadim Ali, Invisible Border 5 (2019), Embroidery, fabric, collage stitching and dye ink on fabric, Art Mill Museum Collection, Qatar Museums, Doha | Shazia Sikander, The Explosion of the Company Man (2011), Gouache, hand painting, gold leaf and silkscreened pigment on paper, Courtesy of Taimur Hassan Collection, Qatar Museums © Photo: Kuzey Kaya Buzlu

Aisha Khalid, You Have Set Me Apart (2017), Fabric and gold-plated steel pins (detail), Art Mill Museum Collection, Qatar Museums, Doha

URBAN VERNACULAR (left to right), Huma Bhabha, The Orientalist (2007), Bronze, ed. 2/3 + 2AP, Art Mill Museum Collection, Qatar Museums, Doha | Huma Mulji, Memory of a Pink (2012), Mixed media and enamel on canvas, Courtesy of Taimur Hassan Collection

REGIONALISM IN DEBATE, Nayyar Ali Dada, Model of Alhamra Arts Council, Lahore (2024), Coloured wood, Commissioned by the Art Mill Museum, Qatar Museums, Doha

POLITICS OF LAND AND WATER, Ruby Chishti, The Present is a Ruin Without the People (2016), Recycled textiles, wire mesh, metal scrapes, sound 14 min (loop), Art Mill Museum Collection, Qatar Museums, Doha

URBAN VERNACULAR (left to right), Huma Bhabha, The Orientalist (2007), Bronze, ed. 2/3 + 2AP, Art Mill Museum Collection, Qatar Museums, Doha | Huma Mulji, Memory of a Pink (2012), Mixed media and enamel on canvas, Courtesy of Taimur Hassan Collection

NATION BUILDING, Installation of architectural documents, drawings and photographs from 1950s and 1960s

PALACE COURTYARD , Heritage Foundation of Pakistan Single Log Shelter Type 1 & 2 (2024), Mixed bamboo, mud and plaster, Prefabricated Lari Octagreen Structure, Commissioned by the Art Mill Museum, Qatar Museums, Doha | Noorjehan Bilgrami, Nir Kahani – Indigo Story (2024), Textile and indigo dye, Commissioned by the Art Mill Museum, Qatar Museums, Doha

PALACE COURTYARD , Heritage Foundation of Pakistan Single Log Shelter Type 1 & 2 (2024), Mixed bamboo, mud and plaster, Prefabricated Lari Octagreen Structure, Commissioned by the Art Mill Museum, Qatar Museums, Doha | Noorjehan Bilgrami, Nir Kahani – Indigo Story (2024), Textile and indigo dye, Commissioned by the Art Mill Museum, Qatar Museums, Doha

PALACE COURTYARD, Heritage Foundation of Pakistan, Community Centre (2024), Bamboo, Prefabricated Lari Octagreen Structure, Commissioned by the Art Mill Museum, Qatar Museums, Doha

PALACE COURTYARD, Heritage Foundation of Pakistan, Community Centre (2024), Bamboo, Prefabricated Lari Octagreen Structure,  Commissioned by the Art Mill Museum, Qatar Museums, Doha | Karachi Lajamia, Hamare Siyal Rishte – Our Watery Relations (2021–2024), Installation, Courtesy of the artist

PALACE COURTYARD, Omer Wasim, In Shadows of the Sun (2024), Component 1 of 3: Drawings, an offset publication, Commissioned by the Art Mill Museum, Qatar Museums, Doha

PALACE COURTYARD, Mariah Lookman, Behrupiya (2024), Two channel video installation with sound, and script in print, 31 mins, Commissioned by the Art Mill Museum, Qatar Museums, Doha

PALACE COURTYARD, Heritage Foundation of Pakistan, Community Centre (2024), Bamboo, Prefabricated Lari Octagreen Structure Commissioned by the Art Mill Museum, Qatar Museums, Doha

project info: 

name: MANZAR: Art and Architecture from Pakistan 1940s to Today

location: National Museum of Qatar, Doha | @nmoqatar
organizer: Art Mill Museum

dates: November 1st, 2024 — January 31st, 2025

curators: Caroline Hancock, Aurélien Lemonier, Zarmeene Shah, Aebhric Coleman

collaborators: Noor Butt, Deena Hammam, Farah Al Sidiky

exhibition design: Raza Ali Dada | @razaalidada

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Qatar Museums announces its upcoming exhibition program for summer and fall 2024 – spanning from a survey of art and architecture from Pakistan since its conception to a touring sports exhibition aligned with the Summer Olympics. The shows will be on view across Doha’s leading galleries, museums, and institutions, also providing visitors with a glimpse of collections from the eagerly anticipated Art Mill Museum and Lusail Museum.

Highlights include spotlights on two iconic artists from the West for the first time in the Middle East. The major exhibition, The Art and Influence of Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904), will examine the French artist’s challenging orientalist narratives, and the retrospective, Ellsworth Kelly at 100, will chart the American artist’s lifelong exploration of the relationship between form, colour, line, and space. London-based Forensic Architecture, a practice seeking to confront settler-colonial violence in Palestine, will too exhibit for the first time in the Gulf. Also focusing on voices from the MENA region, In the Footsteps of Ara Güler will showcase the Turkish artist’s photography of culture, architecture, and archeology across the nation.

Training Centre in Makli, Sindh. Heritage Foundation of Pakistan, directed by Yasmeen Lari | image by Noorulain Ali

MANZAR: Art and Architecture from Pakistan 1940s to Today

MANZAR will reflect on the diverse landscape of Pakistan from its birth to present day. Approximately 200 paintings, drawings, photographs, videos, sculptures, and installations will together trace how creators have forged diverse personal and political languages, in dialogue or disjunction with regional styles and international art and world histories. Alongside newly commissioned works, the exhibition will showcase the emergency bamboo shelters of esteemed architect, Yasmeen Lari. Organized by the future Art Mill Museum, it will be on display at the National Museum of Qatar from 1 November 2024 – 31 January 2025.

Training Centre in Makli, Sindh. Heritage Foundation of Pakistan, directed by Yasmeen Lari | image by Noorulain Ali

Forensic Architecture

Forensic Architecture’s first solo exhibition in the Gulf will be on view at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art from 3 November 2024 – 22 February 2025. In the context of Israel’s ongoing genocidal campaign in Gaza, the practice will present new counter-investigations developed with Palestinian civil society groups in Qatar.

By revealing the grounded networks of relations that shape our political, intellectual, and artistic matrix, the investigations examine systematic executions and mass burial experienced by Palestinians in 1948. Alongside emphasizing the villages of Tantura and Dawayimeh ethnically cleansed in the 1900s, the project will also foreground the voices and living testimonies of survivors to reconstruct lost live-worlds.

situated interview with Dr. Adnan Yahya, 11 March 2023 | image © Forensic Architecture

In the Footsteps of Ara Güler

At The Museum of Islamic Art, In the Footsteps of Ara Güler will offer a glimpse into the life of the Turkish photojournalist, spotlighting his works depicting Istanbul’s inhabitants, historical landmarks, and archaeological findings. A section dedicated to his portraits of leading writers, artists, politicians, philosophers, and other notable figures of his time will follow, concluding with the screening of the film Hero’s End. The exhibition is curated by Sheikha Maryam Al Thani and the Ara Güler Museum team in Istanbul, and will show from 9 August – 9 November 2024.

Ara Güler, Aphrodisias, Aydın, 1958 – 1962 |image © Ara Güler, Ara Güler Museum

The Art and Influence of Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904)

Organized by the Lusail Museum in collaboration with Mathaf, the exhibition will both celebrate and reevaluate the artist’s legacy throughout his lifetime until the present day. Its first section is biographical and examines Gérôme’s Orientalist practice, while the central gallery explores the dialogue between art and objectivity, and authenticity and imagination in Middle Eastern photography.

The journey culminates by showcasing modern and contemporary art and ideas that resonate with the legacy of Gérôme, while seeking to challenge outdated ideas pertaining to geography and identity. The exhibition will be on view from 22 October 2024 – 22 February 2025.

Veiled Circassian Lady, Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1876, OM.696

Ellsworth Kelly at 100

Ellsworth Kelly at 100 will present over 60 works spanning the entirety of the American artist’s (1923–2015) career — from his early days as a burgeoning artist in post-war Paris, through his final years as an icon of Modern art.

With renowned and also rarely-seen works, the exhibition will serve as the first major introduction to audiences from the MENASA region to Kelly’s work, which profoundly influenced Modern and contemporary art, design, and aesthetics. It will be on view from 31 October 2024 – February 2025 at M7, which played host to the inaugural Design Doha Biennial.

Ellsworth Kelly, Painting for a White Wall, 1952. Glenstone Museum, Potomac, Maryland | image by Ron Amstutz, © Ellsworth Kelly Foundation

Splendours of the Atlas: A Voyage Through Morocco’s Heritage

As part of Qatar-Morocco 2024 Years of Culture, Splendours of the Atlas: A Voyage Through Morocco’s Heritage will investigate the multifaceted heritage of Islamic Morocco from 2 November 2024 – 8 March 2025. Through historical artefacts, manuscripts, ceramics, costumes, and jewellery — much of it on view for the first time — the exhibition highlights the significance of key cities in Morocco in fostering religious scholarship and scientific advances, as well as the pivotal role crafts have played in the country’s identity historically and in the present day. 

The Present is a Ruin Without the People, Ruby Chishti (2016) | image courtesy of Ruby Chishti and Rossi & Rossi Gallery

Esports | A Game Changer

Organized by the 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum, Esports | A Game Changer will explore the evolution of esports from niche origins to celebrate mainstream megaevents, addressing socio-cultural challenges and forecasting its future trajectory. The touring exhibition will open in Paris on 23 July to coincide with the Summer Olympic Games.

Ara Güler, Salvador Dalí, Paris, 1971 | image © Ara Güler, Ara Güler Museum

Dividing Line, Zarina (2001) | image courtesy © Zarina and Luhring Augustine, New York, and Lamay Photo

Ara Güler, Karaköy, Istanbul, 1959 | image © Ara Güler, Ara Güler Museum

Ara Güler, Old Mosque, Edirne, 1956 | Qatar Museums, General Collection | image © Ara Güler, Ara Güler Museum

project info:

institution: Qatar Museums

location: Doha, Qatar

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The UAE Pavilion at the 2023 International Horticultural Expo in Doha, Qatar, showcases the region’s environmental preservation and agricultural innovation. Inspired by the deep roots and intertwined branches of the local Ghaf Tree, the pavilion design signed by architecture practice BIG—Bjarke Ingels Group reveals a dome-shaped labyrinth made out of rammed earth, gradually rising towards its center. The structure frames a series of exhibition galleries and 32 gardens, creating an immersive experience of the UAE’s diverse landscape, from desert to oasis and sea to mountains. 

UAE Pavilion by BIG | image © Shoayb Khattab

drawing on natural systems and vernacular practices

As described by BIG’s Partner & Head of Landscape, Giulia Frittoli, the UAE Pavilion at the International Horticultural Expo (see more here) responds to the climate crisis by looking to the country’s natural systems and centuries-old vernacular architecture. ‘Meandering paths lead to an outdoor oasis, which is organized as a series of thematic gardens that explore the power of plants as a source of food, health, and energy. By weaving together architecture and landscape into a seamless experience, the UAE Pavilion shares the story of humanity’s inseparable bonds with nature,’ she notes. 

a dome-shaped labyrinth made out of rammed earth | image © Seeing Things

an open dome of rammed earth filled with gardens

The team at BIG primarily uses locally sourced materials, including rammed earth for the walls, which includes 90% soil and 10% cement for binding. The roof structure is formed by wooden beams topped with palm leaves for shading, and limestone rocks are used to pave surfaces. Throughout the gardens, guests of the International Horticultural Expo can explore native and non-native plants cultivated or found in the wild. The landscaping and greenhouse include 65 species and 6,609 plants with edible plants, fruit trees, medicinal plants, a bee garden, flowers, spices, shrubs, grasses, industrial plants, and perennials. The greenhouse is filled with fruits and vegetables such as tomatoes, bell peppers, figs, and citrus fruits. Overall, BIG has selected the plants to highlight species that contribute to the UAE’s agricultural legacy, from past to present and future. 

inspired by the deep roots and branches of the local Ghaf Tree | image © Seeing Things

image © Shoayb Khattab

meandering paths | image © Seeing Things

image © Seeing Things

image © Shoayb Khattab

exploring native and non-native plants cultivated or found in the wild | image © Giulia Frittoli

image © Shoayb Khattab

project info:

name: UAE Pavilion 

location: Doha Qatar

architect: BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group | @big_builds

program: 2023 International Horticultural Expo | @expo2023doha

partners in charge: Bjarke Ingels, Guilia Frittoli, Jakob Lange

project leader: Søren Martinussen

project architect: Alvaro Novás Filgueria

project team: Jan-Hendrik Schrader, Malka Logo, Marco Sartoretto, Nicolas Vincent Robert Carlier, Sofia Papadopoulou, Xavier Thanki, Zhiyuan Zhang

BIG engineering: Andrea Hektor, Carrie Tam, Jens Max Jensen, Jesús Fernandez Fraile, Kannan Selvaraj, Thomas Lejeune

BIG products: Jan-Hendrik Schrader

BIG landscape: Dace Gurecka, Jae Yoon Lee, Anna Beatrice Maria Ambrosi, Bartłomiej Lew, Giancarlo Albarello Herrera, Hansen Zhu, Mónica Galiana Rodriquez, Nouran Wael Mohamed Rashad, Mohamed Sherif, Rihab Soukkarieh, Seyederfan Masoumzadeh

collaborators: Commarble Design Studio, Atelier Brückner, Mace, CEG

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