DAR AL ISLAM - QATAR: THE MUSEUM OF ISLAMIC ART

Islamic museum to be platform for peace: Mayassa

to create a global hub for business, dialogue, culture and understanding, Qatar Museums Authority (QMA) chairperson HE Sheikha Mayassa bint Hamad al-Thani has said.Presenting the topic “Qatar – Museum Mecca of the Middle East” at the 4th Annual Conference on “Finance & Investment in Qatar” at the Dorchester Hotel here yesterday she said QMA was founded on the belief that museums were not ends in themselves but rather tools for social development and global exchange.

“The much-anticipated Museum of Islamic Art in Doha is an edifying case in point. It will just not be a remarkable architectural structure that is home to thousands of masterpieces from different countries, continents and eras but a place of learning and a platform for dialogue,” Sheikha Mayassa said.“The museum, designed by world famous architect IM Pei on a built-up area of 45,000 sq m will house one of the largest educational wings of any museum in the world. It will be a global centre of expertise in interpretation research, training and development. It will also be actively involved in engaging schools and universities, both in Qatar and outside.“Under QMA’s vision the museum will bring together curators, conservators and scholars, from every nation on the globe, together in common cause and interest. It will also create partnerships with museums from across the globe. Through this initiative and more we will offer the people of the world a common interest around which to gather and a universal language with which to converse.

“As leaders in business and finance industry, it is in partnerships with you that the vision of Qatar for the Mecca of Museums can become a vibrant reality. It is through you that our exhibitions can find their way around the world, that our educational programmes can unite nations, and that our vision can flourish.

“As global markets converge and technology breaks down boundaries, countries with potentially significant roles in this globalised era will be those who can gather the decision makers, businessmen and cultural figures in dialogue. The reality is that what impacts markets and global agendas today are boardrooms in which artists, historians and sports personalities sit alongside CEOs offering equal insight and playing pivotal roles. In Qatar today our boardrooms are shaping up in that way and the nation is positioning itself at the centre of global map, as a mediator to the countries of the world.

“The Asian Games, which brought to Doha thousands of visitors last December, is a testimony to that. With some 10 arts and heritage exhibitions QMA demonstrated in a palpable manner during the Games how museums can wade their way out of their traditional role as spaces open to the public, to vehicles through which messages and dialogue can be extended to the world. The Museum of Islamic Art will open its doors in that way; inviting museums from across the world to partake in a dialogue that transcends the manmade boundaries of culture, religion and heritage.”

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1) Islamic museum to be platform for peace: Mayassa