Arab Museum of Modern Art

Arab Museum of Modern Art

Mathaf’s permanent collection galleries bring together landmark artists and pivotal works from the Arab World, the Middle East and other regions that are historically connected to Qatar and the Arab Peninsula.

Located in Doha’s Education City, Mathaf Museum, designed by the acclaimed French architect Jean-François Bodin, is the only institution of its type in the region, hosting modern art exhibits and programmes offering an Arab perspective on contemporary art. The museum is a uniquely spectacular art space containing a collection of more than 6,000 works, spanning the 1840s to the present day.

Major themes of aesthetics and politics of change and progress within multiple modernities and histories of art and society are addressed: the rise of nation-states; colonial struggles and post-independence projects of reconstruction; the development and influence of the oil industry; the birth of new urban centers and cities; and aspirations to progress in a global, hyper digitalized and networked era.

Many of these works address the movement of human civilization through rapidly changing models in history. For example, the paintings and sculptures by Mahmoud Mokhtar, Hafidh Droubi, and Jawad Selim create new visual tendencies inspired by ancient civilizations. Works by Chaibia, Inji Efflatoun, Paul Guiragossian, Faiq Hassan, and Issa Saqer are portraits of society, while the work of Seif Wanly, Abdullah al-Muharraqi, and Hamed Owais depict social and industrial progress.

Mathaf’s artistic vision is to promote exhibitions that are both historical and experimental in their nature. The museum’s permanent collection is an outstanding showcase of both historical and contemporary modern Arab art.

Among those featured include internationally renowned and award-winning figures such as Etel Adnan (Lebanon), Farid Belkahia (Morocco), Saloua Raouda Choucair (Lebanon and Faraj Daham (Qatar).

Mathaf is linked by shuttle bus to the Museum of Islamic Art.