Abstract
The original Qatar National Museum that was established in 1975 as a pioneer museum in the gulf region was closed in 2005 for renovation. The new National Museum of Qatar (NMoQ) took more than a decade, around fourteen years from 2005-2019 to accomplish. It is one of Qatar’s mega projects, which was opened with a VIP opening celebration that was held in 27th of March 2019, and opened officially for the public on 28th. After more than a decade in creation, the NMoQ finally designed to reflect and narrate the story, history and ambition of the state and to become an icon for modern Doha. Ever since its establishment in 1975 the national museum has been a matter of making a place for the Qatari culture and history. Although the museum is refurbished into totally new vision and setting, it still belongs to the same history and serves the same nation. Both visions are pursuing to identify the continuance progressions of the country, which takes the state's history as its stem. However, we need to know which methodology the current establishment is using, and to what drama it could lead? What differences does the present introduce with respect to the past? This paper discusses and analyses the interpretation of the Qatari culture, heritage, and history, by examining the architecture of the new NMoQ. The purpose of the paper is to trace and compare the national museum’s presentation and interpretation of Qatari culture and history, between the past and present, through its architecture. In addition, the paper investigates the changing economic, social, and political codes of Qatar through the reordering of cultural materials.
Highlights
The original Qatar National Museum, which was established in 1975 as a pioneer museum in the Gulf region, was closed in 2005 for renovations
Sheikha Al-Mayassa, Chair of The Board of Trustees of Qatar Museums, commented at a press conference from the sidelines of the opening of the National Museum of Qatar (NMoQ) ‘We have not limited our imagination during these years and we have given hope that every visitor to this place from inside or outside Qatar will see what he or she expects’, (Gulf Times, 2019)
Critiquing the reordering of cultural codes conjures up several theoretical questions: which and whose history has been visualised, and which experiences have been reflected in the reordering that is meant to create a new identity and heritage model. Such reordering places the national museum in a contradictory situation regarding its claim that the museum is about the Qatari and for the Qatari
Summary
The original Qatar National Museum, which was established in 1975 as a pioneer museum in the Gulf region, was closed in 2005 for renovations. Critiquing the reordering of cultural codes conjures up several theoretical questions: which and whose history has been visualised, and which experiences have been reflected in the reordering that is meant to create a new identity and heritage model Such reordering places the national museum in a contradictory situation regarding its claim that the museum is about the Qatari and for the Qatari. Foucault stressed that the present could be analysed as a revolving point to the shift toward the dawning of a new world In his discussion of enlightenment, the philosopher Kant defined two vital elements under which human beings can move away from their immaturity: first, institutional and spiritual, and second, political and ethical. Visitors are supposed to follow a long route from the museum’s entrance until they reach the galleries on the first floor This arrangement leads us to the question: what is more important here, is it the architecture or the collection to present and preserve Qatari culture? The architecture, together with the exhibitions contained within offer physical and visual proof of the continuous progress of Qatar’s evolutionarily development at economic, social, and political levels
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