Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) , Doha

After that eventful flight over persistent storm winds which made the travel such fun, it was entertaining to cross the Atlantic through the Canary Islands and over the Mediterranean with a little over Africa as well. The result of this delectable journey was that the flight landed 3 hours late in Doha, clearly missing the connection to Chennai.

So the airlines arranged for an overnight stay and the next available flight was not until evening 7pm, giving enough time to spend in Doha. The moment I know that I am getting a few hours in Doha, I know where I am going to be spending those few hours.

The Museum of Islamic Art  is probably unique in that it exclusively houses works of art from the Islamic world and from places of Islamic influences in the past. And it has probably one of the largest collection of such art to be found anywhere in the world. Though I've seen the Islamic art collection in The Met - another large collection - it just was not enough.

I am no expert in any art. My interest flow from my reading and to me, art is the visual form of a poem or a beautiful prose. That, I am always on the look out for. Just like the literature from different parts of the world, art differs in content and the medium based on the geography and people, but speaks the same language of human artistry and passion, if only we chose to listen.

 Now that that is out of way, Islamic art - in comparison to the Western - is unique for a variety of reasons. The medium , the bright, boldness of the expression, while there is a deep under pining religiousness in all, there is quite a bit of themes outside the same as well - especially the ones related to war (conceivable as the medieval period of Islamic flourish was accompanied by constant wars) and love (I mean, the Mughal emperors - to me - are the most spoiled romantics of all!).

The Museum of Islamic Art is impressive because the museum itself is a work of art and that is the first thing that gets noticed. Located at the edge of the beautiful blue waters of the Doha Bay of Persian gulf, built in the traditional  limestone structured found across the Gulf - the building evokes an abstract structure of the dome structures of the mosque. In line with the geometrical features , so commonly found in the Islamic architecture, the building itself is a collection of patterns all across. With the huge glass facade overlooking the Persian Gulf, the interior of the building is flooded with light at all the times of the day. With the accompanying parks around the structure, the building itself is worth the time to visit the place.

The collections in the museum is one of the largest and takes time to walk around the structure covering a variety of mediums - paintings, ceramics, sculptures, calligraphy, wood work,  textiles, jewellery etc. And are all displayed in a very tasteful manner - by the medium, place of origin and period of craftsmanship.

 It takes a while to walk around the museum - about 2.5 hours for me - and try to absorb as much of it in. There is a lot to look at and admire and understand. There are 3 floors of exhibitions and one with a library and the ground floor has the auditorium. gift shop and the cafe.

The most impressive item to me was the war mask from Iran which was quite the opposite of what you would expect from a war mask. It was more like a mask you would wear to a ball, there was very much a dancing quality to it which made it quite lovely to look at.

There is a complete section on the sea faring Arabs and the tools and maps from that period of time and it was very educational and interesting to see and know that they, at one point in time, ruled the seas from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic.

 

The jewellery and small arms (daggers and muskets) collection were extensive and impressive as well. There was a lot on display from the Mughal period and from the Iran Safavid periods which were probably the best of the lot.

If you like art and have 3-4 hours to spend in Doha, this is the only place to be.