The restricted heritage significance of historic mosques in Qatar

Abstract

ABSTRACT The study of contemporary mosque rehabilitation and restoration projects in Qatar reveals that the relationship between cultural heritage subjects and their actual and potential stewards is complicated and possibly fragile. In this article, I discuss the efforts put towards identifying stakeholders for a mosque preservation initiative in Qatar and the challenges that it encountered in the context of shifting politics of heritage construction. Rather than focus on specific attitudes that may give rise to an apparent failure of such a preservation initiative, I discuss the how failure of heritage preservation projects can be examined productively in the study of preservation practices and discourses. I consider, specifically, the ways in which institutions forge stewardship through stakeholder engagement in order to discuss how material culture is made to acquire significance as a modern “Islamic” and Qatari heritage.