The highly anticipated World Cup this year is being held in Qatar. In order to warmly welcome this global event, the city has been actively beautifying itself in the past few months, hoping that visitors can experience the best travel experience during the tournament. In addition to introducing public sculptures by globally renowned artists last month, the local authorities have also announced the reopening of the Museum of Islamic Art, which has been closed for renovations since last year, in October!
MIA is a landmark building designed by the renowned architect Ieoh Ming Pei, who won the Pritzker Prize. It officially opened in 2008, significantly boosting Qatar’s soft power. However, the construction process of this museum was not easy at all, even for the experienced Ieoh Ming Pei.
At the time, Qatari King Hamad provided several offshore locations for this construction, but I.M. Pei rejected them because he did not want the museum to be obstructed by any buildings. Later, the king specifically built an artificial island for this purpose, which is how we have the prime location we see today.
The Islamic Art Museum blends traditional Islamic architecture with a 21st-century innovative style. This includes a five-story main building and an adjacent education wing connected by a large central courtyard. The main building features a high domed courtyard in the central tower, with cream-colored limestone exterior walls capturing the light and shadow changes of the day.
The interior of the museum is equally impressive, with a curved double staircase in the center of the atrium leading to the first floor. Floating above it is a magnificent circular metal chandelier that echoes the curves of the staircase. The 45-meter-high windows on the north side of the atrium offer a magnificent panoramic view of the entire bay, while geometric patterns from the Islamic world decorate the entire museum space.
MIA has collected artworks from various parts of the Islamic world, meeting the cultural, artistic, and social needs of visitors. Although MIA is not a religious institution, they thoughtfully provide prayer rooms for all Muslim visitors within the museum building.
Upon reopening in October, the museum will showcase over 1000 new exhibits, including a 9th-century blue Quran, the Cavour vase from the late 13th century, a Varanasi necklace from around 1609, a late 16th-century manuscript of “Ramayana” by Hamida Banu Begum, and the Franchetti tapestry from around 1575, all to be displayed in the first gallery on the second floor.
In addition, there are collections borrowed from 22 institutions around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, most of which span Islamic art collections from the 7th to the 20th century, which are definitely worth looking forward to.
Image Source: Museum of Islamic Art
