Qatar Museums Celebrate Syrian Heritage and Artists

Next month, Qatar’s Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) will open its “Syria Matters” exhibition, which will capture the cultural heritage and legacy of Syria. The exhibition will be open from November 23rd, 2018 to April 30th, 2019, and will be a centerpiece for the Museum’s 10th anniversary in November 2018. “Syria Matters” embodies MIA’s mission to not be a museum simply for Qatar, but for the entire Muslim world.

“Islam is very much a shared culture, and the vision behind the museum is to show the peaceful side of Islam and its contribution to the world… We want to emphasize the heritage rather than the destruction in Syria.” -Julia Gonnella, MIA Director

“Syria Matters” will feature a section of pre-Islamic Syrian art – a rare sight in the region as pre-Islamic art is banned in many Muslim countries. The exhibition will include more than 120 items borrowed from the Louvre, the Hermitage, the Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum, and more. It will also feature immersive digital renderings of the Citadel of Aleppo and the Umayyad Mosque of Damascus created by Iconem, a French startup that digitizes endangered heritage sites in 3D.

Mathaf, the Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha, is also currently featuring two exhibitions by Syrian artists – “Mounira Al Solh: I strongly believe in our right to be frivolous” and “Fateh Al Moudarres: Colour, Extensity, and Sense.” On November 23rd, the Qatar National Library will open its exhibition “Syria Under the French Mandate (1918-1946)” in partnership with the Museum of Islamic Art.