Tribune News Network
Doha
Qatar Museums (QM) has announced the details of the special exhibition ‘Lusail Museum: Tales of a Connected World’, opening on October 24 at QM Gallery Al Riwaq as a preview of the vision for the new Lusail Museum, its architectural design, and its world-class collection of art.
This introduction to the new institution, which is scheduled to break ground in 2023, is presented as part of the year-round national cultural movement Qatar Creates, opening in time for the influx of visitors to Doha for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
Accompanying Tales of a Connected World in autumn 2022 will be three more special exhibitions—presented at the Garage Gallery, Fire Station, QM Gallery Katara, and the Museum of Islamic Art—that give additional insights into the scope and viewpoint to be encountered in the new Lusail Museum. Designed by the Pritzker Prize-winning architects Herzog & de Meuron, the Lusail Museum building will be constructed in Lusail, the home of Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed bin Thani, the statesman, diplomat, and poet who was the founder of Qatar.
Her Excellency Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chairperson of Qatar Museums, said, "Tales of a Connected World will offer the public a first glimpse of the vast and diverse collections that will be found in the new Lusail Museum and the complex, nuanced stories the institution will tell about moments of encounter among different peoples across the far-flung networks of the Indian Ocean. Through this exhibition and the three others that accompany it this autumn, audiences may begin to reflect on the themes of movement, identity, and exchange that are central to the Lusail Museum. They also will understand how this new institution will serve both as a showcase for extraordinary artworks and objects and also as a forum for much-needed dialogue about global challenges, past, present, and future.”
Estithmar Holding is the Presenting Sponsor of Tales of a Connected World. During a signing ceremony announcing the company’s partnership with Qatar Museums, Estithmar Holding QPSC Chairman Moutaz Al Khayyat, said, "We are delighted to be the Presenting Sponsor for the exhibition Lusail Museum: Tales of a Connected World as part of our commitment to developing a city of the future in Lusail.”
The three accompanying exhibitions, which tell diverse stories of the world, are: Experience Al Jazeera, on view at the Garage Gallery, Fire Station from November 1, 2022 –March 25, 2023, which celebrates the emergence of a voice from the Arab world that has become a pioneer in the contemporary media landscape both regionally and globally;
Labour of Love: Embroidering Palestinian History, on view at QM Gallery Katara from October 12, 2022 – January 28, 2023, is a journey to discover Palestine through the art of embroidery. The land of Palestine carries a complex contemporary history, a narrative that Lusail Museum seeks to better understand;
Raku Kichizaemon XV: Jikinyū’ – A Living Tradition of Japanese Pottery on view at the Museum of Islamic Art from October25, 2022 – March 2023 displays a set of fourteen ceremonial tea bowls inspired by Qatar’s natural environment and people, featuring the poetry of Sheikh Jassim the Founder, whose home was Lusail;
The overarching exhibition, Lusail Museum: Tales of a Connected World, will highlight the past, present, and future of Lusail through images of archaeological remains, the Lusail Heritage site, and Lusail today as a flourishing city. The exhibition will comprise 247 objects, many from the world’s most extensive collection of paintings, drawings, sculpture, photography, rare texts, and applied arts, assembled by Qatar Museums. An immersive, interactive digital trail will complement the exhibition and the visitor experience and will include films from the Doha Film Institute, as well as soundscapes introducing historical and contemporary musicians from around the globe. The exhibition is curated by Dr. Xavier Dectot, Director of the Lusail Museum with design by Studio Adrien Gardère.