From a monumental Richard Serra installation in the desert to a 40,000-seat fully demountable stadium, Qatar sets the bar high for contemporary art, architecture and design. Ahead of the 2022 Fifa World Cup, we visit the Gulf state to witness the latest chapter of its cultural transformation.
Discover our visual diary here.
East-West/West-East, 2014, by Richard Serra. Located in the Brouq nature reserve, this sculpture comprises four large steel plates nestled between limestone rock formations
Fenwick Iribarren Architects’ Stadium 974 was built for the 2022 Fifa World Cup using recycled steel and repurposed shipping containers. Fully demountable, it is designed to be transported to a new location or turned into a series of smaller venues
AAP’s Outlaw V6 Corvette drag racer on display at the Jean Nouvel-designed National Museum of Qatar, part of a preview of the exhibits that will feature in the upcoming Qatar Auto Museum, designed by OMA
Your Brain to Me, My Brain to You, 2022, by Pipilotti Rist. The Swiss artist’s new immersive video installation at the National Museum of Qatar symbolises humanity’s collective unconscious and features 12,000 LED lights strung on cables throughout the gallery
A classic caftan in silk organza by the Qatari fashion designer Wadha Al Hajri hangs in the Wadha boutique at the National Museum of Qatar
Located in a historic midcentury building that once housed a girls’ school, Liwan Design Studios in Msheireb is a new creative hub dedicated to supporting the local design community
Turquoise City, 2021, by Mark Handforth. Made of urban and industrial waste, this site-specific piece in Msheireb, downtown Doha, is inspired by the brightly coloured ceramics found in the city’s Museum of Islamic Art
Designed by OMA, the new Qatar National Library opened in 2018. Made of the same white marble as the floor, its bookshelves incorporate lighting, ventilation and the book return system. At the centre of the building is a 6m-deep excavated space, clad in beige travertine and housing the library’s heritage collection
The Brouq nature reserve, or Ras Abrouq, is located an hour’s drive from Doha, on Qatar’s west coast. It is known for its mushroom-shaped rock formations, cliffs and beach