Museums

The National Museum of Qatar

The National Museum of Qatar, designed by Jean Nouvel

Visiting the National Museum of Qatar was probably my most memorable experience of the entire visit. I’ve visited my fair share of museums at home, but this museum was above and beyond. The exterior is striking, designed by French architect Jean Nouvel and intended to

resemble Qatar’s desert roses. The new museum building is also connected to Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al-Thani’s original palace, which has been meticulously preserved.

The digital map

To step into the museum is to immerse yourself in Qatar’s history and culture. The layout of the museum guides you from Qatar’s ancient history and early formation, all the way up to the present day. In the beginning, I loved the exhibit on Qatar’s natural history, which featured lifelike models of native Arabian oryx and dugongs as well as fossils and rock samples. Particularly impressive was a large digital map that showed the settlement and development of Qatar over time, and you could watch Doha grow from small village to modern city in just a few seconds.

Of course, due to coffee’s importance in Qatari culture, there was an awesome exhibit that showcased not only different kinds of coffee pots, but even perfumed the air with the smell of Arabic coffee. Another one of my favorites was the “Pearls and Celebrations” exhibit, which highlighted Qatar’s early history as a pearling nation and gave the most stunning examples of intricate pearl jewelry and embroidery. In a large glass case there was what appeared to be an oriental rug, which was actually made entirely of pearls and made our jaws drop.

Although it looks like an ordinary rug, it's completely made of pearls!

As we moved into the modern history of Qatar, there was a particular focus on the World Cup, which Qatar is hosting in 2022. Pieces such as the official envelope that announced Qatar as the host, as well as videos of Qataris celebrating the news were particularly powerful in illustrating just how far Qatar has come. The museum didn’t shy away from Qatar’s politics, dedicating an entire exhibit to the GCC crisis, which is still going on today. I enjoyed one part that showed newspapers from around the world reporting on the crisis, and it made me think about how, despite its small size, Qatar has become extremely relevant in the Middle East and beyond.

I was genuinely sad to leave the Museum. I felt like I deeply understood Qatar after passing through all the exhibits, and I wish we’d had more time to enjoy all the museum had to offer. If I ever return to Qatar, the National Museum will be my first stop.

Credit: Michael Ader

Some additional photos outside the museum (1st image: Michael Ader)

The Museum of Islamic Art

I’d long admired pictures of the Museum of Islamic Art, but never dreamed I’d get to visit. The building itself is incredibly striking: positioned on the water’s edge with a long, elegant walkway leading to the museum designed by I.M. Pei. The architecture draws on geometric patterns common in the Islamic world, and is influenced by ancient Islamic architecture such as the Ibn Tulun Mosque in Cairo.

Exhibits include stunning ancient ceramics, glass and metalwork, sculptures, jewelry, textiles, and more. I was truly in awe of the variety and intricacy of the pieces. Some of my favorites were the ceramics and stunning engravings.

The Museum also has an absolutely beautiful courtyard that looked right across the bay to the newer, downtown section of Doha. The views of the skyline were amazing and we spent a great deal of time taking pictures in the late afternoon sun.