ART & DESIGN

DEC 30: Mathaf museum

The world’s first museum dedicated to art produced in the Gulf region from 1840 to the present.

by Fan Zhong

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In Qatar they don’t stockpile just Rothkos and Bacons. Sheikh Hassan bin Mohamed bin Ali Al-Thani has been collecting modern Arabic art since 1986, when little attention was paid to the genre. On December 30 art lovers will get the chance to experience the sheikh’s collection up close when Mathaf, the world’s first museum dedicated to art produced in the Gulf region from 1840 to the present, opens its doors in Doha. Housed in a former school artfully reimagined by French architect Jean-François Bodin, the project is yet another impressive addition to the city’s cultural landscape, which saw I.M. Pei’s Museum of Islamic Art open at this time in 2008.

Courtesy of Mathaf