Elite Traveler September-October 2016

elite traveler SEPT/OCT 2016 103

STATE OF THE ART From incredible historic artifacts tomonumental modern sculpture, Qatar is becoming a destination to view amazing art

At one point it was estimated that the Qatar Museums Authority (QMA), which oversees museums, cultural institutions and heritage sites, was spending a billion dollars a year on art. The QMA is led by the sister of the Emir, Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. She was once described as the most powerful person in the art world and although she has slipped down the rankings of ArtReview ’s Power 100, her influence remains impressive – one art critic suggested she effectively has the resources of an entire country at her disposal. And let us not forget this is the country with the highest GDP per capita on the planet. So what has she been spending it on? When it comes to modern and contemporary art, Qatar had a great head start. Another member of the royal Al Thani family, Sheikh Hassan bin Mohammed bin Ali, began collecting in the early 1990s. He focused mainly on pieces from the Arabian Peninsula together with its trading and cultural partners in North Africa, Turkey, Iran and Asia. His donation of a first group of works to the public set the stage for what has become Mathaf, or the Arab Museum of Modern Art. Importantly, this ‘home-grown’ aspect of Qatar’s collecting sets it apart from the art scene in the UAE’s capital, Abu Dhabi. The latter has worked with huge international institutions such as the Guggenheim, Louvre and the British Museum to build its collections. Initially housed in two villas in Qatar's capital, Doha, in 2010 Mathaf moved to a redesigned former school building. It currently includes over 9,000 works of art – the largest specialized collection of its kind anywhere in the world – and is growing. This permanent collection is complemented by temporary exhibitions featuring internationally acclaimed artists. As well as raising the profile of Qatar internationally, one bold rationale given for making art accessible to the public is to encourage debate about social and political shifts and the way Arab societies are structured – to display and discuss the role of art in that process. The Mathaf collection includes paintings, sculptures, video and installation from the mid-19th century to today. There are key works by pioneering Arab artists who were not only important witnesses of their time, but helped establish art scenes in their own countries. Of particular note are Jewad Selim from Iraq with his 1956 mixed media piece Baghdadiat , the sculptor Mahmoud Mokhtar’s The Nile from his native Egypt and closest to home, the Qatari artist, Jassim Zaini. Prolific and varied in his styles, Zaini saw and depicted the changes in Qatar during the 1950s and 1960s resulting from the discovery and production of oil. He used abstraction, expressionism, cubism, impressionism, plus surrealism and his work centered on themes of identity and cultural heritage. Sheikha Al Mayassa describes part of Mathaf’s mission as being to expand people’s ideas about art and culture in the region and 'to show that the story is bigger, more exciting and more surprising than might be supposed.' Some of that supposing – assumption really – arises from the traditionally nomadic lifestyle of the Arabian Peninsula. In simple

by Julia Wheeler

The Kingdoms, Sultanates and Emirates of the Gulf share a landscape, religion and history, but just as the details of their inhabitants’ dress offer clues on identity – the style in which the men’s ghutra headdress is folded or the woman’s abaya draped – the countries are far less homogeneous than appearances first suggest. In the desire to diversify from oil and gas and in the spirit of rivalry that runs just beneath the surface, they are working to differentiate themselves to the outside world. In the United Arab Emirates, Dubai has finance and shopping, while Oman focuses on natural beauty and authentic tradition unspoiled by excessive wealth. Between now and 2022, much of what you will hear about Qatar is likely to involve sports – more specifically soccer – in the run-up to the country hosting the FIFAWorld Cup. Less obvious a focus for conversation, but nevertheless a conversation which is getting louder, revolves around the internationally renowned art being collected and shared there.