The Mathaf In Doha, Qatar ~ A Luxurious Home For Modern Arab Art In A New Museum

Written by Bailey Condo Friday, 04 March 2011 00:41

"Art can only truly flourish if the artists, their collectors, curators and audiences are able to connect today's activities to yesterday's achievements." With these words, H.E. Sheikh Hassan bin Mohamed bin Ali Ali Thani set out the philosophy behind the Arab Museum of Modern Art (Mathaf - pronounced Mat-haff, meaning “museum” in Arabic) in Doha, Qatar. In 2008, Qatar opened the Museum of Islamic Art, home to a rich collection of 800 artistic and historical treasures from three continents, illustrating Islamic culture from the seventh to the 19th centuries. The five-storey building, designed by Chinese-American Pritzker Prize winning architect I. M. Pei, whose other projects have included the Pyramide du Louvre in Paris, was built on an artificial island 60 metres (yards) from the Doha Corniche. The Mathaf will complement the Museum of Islamic Arts by showing the works of more contemporary Arab artists from throughout the world. More than 6,500 artworks from Sheikh Hassan's personal collection form the cornerstone of the new museum, originally donated to the Qatar Foundation, who safeguarded it for four years before the Qatar Museums Authority (QMA) took the Museum project on, and formed the current joint administration. As well as donating the collection itself, Sheikh Hassan campaigned for the creation of the museum and encouraged creativity in Qatar and throughout the region with his longtime commitment to Arab artists. Opened in December 2010 the Museum temporarily occupies a former school building in Doha’s Education City, which was re-designed for Mathaf by the French architect Jean-François Bodin. QMA will determine its plans for the construction of a future, permanent home for the Museum at a later date (but are already considering some impressive designs). In the meantime, Jean-François Bodin's converted school provides an excellent venue in which to display the collection. The off-white building combines modern exterior touches with an all-glass facade above the entrance, with traditional shapes and designs. The Mathaf provides galleries on two floors (with over 6,500 square meters of exhibition space), a café, a museum shop, a research library and an education wing. Visitors enter Mathaf through a terrace that features a shaded outdoor seating area for the café. From the terrace, visitors pass through a screen-wrapped scaffolding-style façade, upon which imagery and video can be projected at night. Inside Mathaf, the flexible space has an informal and contemporary aesthetic. Like the collection that it houses, this temporary home expresses a balance between the old and the new, as well as reflecting Mathaf’s commitment to education. The museum hosts exhibitions, programs and events that explore and celebrate modern art in all mediums by Arab artists. In addition to its collection and special exhibitions, Mathaf’s on-site and online programs reinforce its role as a center for global dialogue, research and scholarship. Through these activities, which are designed to engage artists, writers, students, scholars and the widest possible public audience, Mathaf intends to contribute to the cultural landscape of the Gulf region, the Middle East and the Arab Diaspora. "When QMA opened the Museum of Islamic Art, we made Qatar the place to see and appreciate the greatest treasures of a vast and vital heritage, which spans centuries and cultures," stated H.E. Sheikha Al Mayassa. "Now, with the opening of Mathaf, we make Qatar the place to see, explore and discuss the creations of Arab artists of the modern era and our own time. As we reveal this body of exciting, important but previously little-seen artworks, we demonstrate that the world can continue to look to Qatar for new possibilities and surprising experiences." According to H.E. Sheikh Hassan, "Arab artists are now receiving unprecedented visibility and support, in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world. We warmly welcome this development. By making public a century’s worth of distinctive artworks, Mathaf will deepen the conversation about Arab art and help advance the creativity of the Arab world." Visit the museum's website at ... www.mathaf.org.qa

With almost 7,200 artworks, Mathaf holds the largest collection of Arab paintings and sculptures in the world, including works by artists from most Arab countries and spanning the 1840s to the present day. A pair of sculptures dominates the forecourt, impressive in both size and scale. The towering “Guardian of the Fertile Crescent” was conceived by renowned sculpture artist Ismail Fattah, who sadly passed away before its completion. Ali Nouri finished the monumental granite carving, which depicts two imposing figures seated side by side. Also in the forecourt is Adam Henein's "Al-Safina” ("The Ship"), created from blocks of pink and black granite quarried from his homeland in Egypt. Sitting solemnly on top of the ship-like structure are a variety of imposing bronze sculptures which depict animal, plant and human life, as well as several abstract forms, many of which soar impressively towards the skyline. Inside the museum, the collection concentrates on paintings alongside mixed media and abstract installations, both from Sheikh Hassan's donated collection and other sources. Among some of the higlights are "Les Shadoufs" by Egyptian master Mahmoud Said purchased at auction for $2.43 million in 2010 and works by Dia Azzawai, Mahmoud Said, the Palestinian artist Sliman Mansour and Iraqis Ismail Fattah (a realist sculptor from Basra), and Shakir Hassan al-Said. The museum's initial hanging presents the collection by theme under the title "Sajjil: A Century of Modern Art". 'Sajjil' means‘Act of Recording’ and the exhibition brings together over 200 artworks from Mathaf’s extensive collection. The exhibition creates a space for many different stories and experiences and helps set Arab modern art in its historical place within a larger art-history tradition. It also emphasizes the several common moments and concerns that make it possible to talk about a shared identity in the region. Sajjil is divided into ten themed categories: nature; the city; individualism; form and abstraction; society; family; history and myth; struggle; huroufiyah (’abstract letterform art’) and Doha. Many elements of the art recur across time, space and historical interruptions. In addition, the museum contains more than 750 pieces of antique sculpture, metalwork and ceramics revealing the influence of ancient civilizations on contemporary Arab art, with some dating to more than 5,000 years old.

In addition to the inaugural exhibition featuring works from the collection, Mathaf is presenting two special opening exhibitions in a new temporary exhibition space located on the grounds of the Museum of Islamic Art. 'Interventions', on view from December 30, 2010 to May 28, 2011, celebrates the work and artistic development of five major modern Arab artists, Dia Azzawi, Farid Belkahia, Ahmed Nawar, Ibrahim el-Salahi, and Hassan Sharif who were instrumental in introducing and negotiating modernism in the Arab world, and remain productive and influential today. . As well as highlighting key moments in their experiments and oeuvres, "Interventions" introduces five new works commissioned by Mathaf from the artists for this exhibition. These new works are presented alongside pertinent pieces from Mathaf's permanent collection, providing a context which emphasizes thematic and artistic progression. The new works assert the continuing commitment of the five artists and the endurance of their discourse and cultural roles. 'Interventions' features works from Mathaf’s permanent collection alongside a newly commissioned work by each artist. 'Told/Untold/Retold', on view from December 30, 2010 to May 28, 2011 brings together twenty-three artists with twenty-three commissioned works that mark a significant departure, a new way of looking at both art and the world. It is the first and largest exhibition of contemporary art on this scale within a museum context in the history of the Arab world. In a world where everything is in motion, artists are not confined within rigid cultural identities based on the traditional geography. The exhibition invites you to look at artists, not as national representatives but as 'transmodern' artists in consistent metamorphosis. "Told/Untold/Retold" seeks simply to let the artists speak, free of stereotypes or contrived connections.