At the #FIFAWorldCup2022, the real winner is Doha.
I was expecting a flashy city (which there is) but not the investments in art, architecture, culture, education & public transport that I experienced. Here’s a few things you should see if you visit 🧶:
I was expecting a flashy city (which there is) but not the investments in art, architecture, culture, education & public transport that I experienced. Here’s a few things you should see if you visit 🧶:
1) Museum of Islamic Art. The I. M. Pei-designed building itself is an icon, with its high vaulted atrium and stunning views of Doha from its courtyard. The surrounding park is sprinkled with public art & pavilions with more exhibits.
The collection includes rare religious & secular manuscripts and material objects from Muslim cultures across the world. Look at the blue & pink Quran folios, an Abbasid map of the world where East is North, & a talismanic shirt (with the entire Quran) from Delhi Sultanate!
An illustrated travelogue of an early Muslim pilgrim (with maps & illustrations), Ghazali’s Ihya ulum-ud-din, The Nurse’s Quran with its stunning typography, and a 13th century Iranian illustrated manuscript.
Lots of carpets & pots & jewels & armour, but my favs were folios from illustrated Shahnamehs. You could notice the difference between the Safavid vs the Qajar vs the Mughal ones. Also loved the recreated room from Damascus.
The museum also had two temporary exhibits on Baghdad: first was a historical and contemporary survey titled Eyes’ Delight, and the other on incomplete modernist grand projects designed for the city by famous global architects in the 20th century titled City of Mirages.
I’ve been unsuccessfully chasing Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Rooms across NY, London & European cities for years. They’re booked months in advance. In Doha, her work is sprinkled all over MIA garden & the Infinity Room is open for experience!
MIA has work produced by Muslim cultures. Lusail Museum will have works produced by all other cultures that depicts Muslim cultures (i.e. Orientalism). Some of that future Lusail Museum’s collection is up for viewing in a pavilion in the MIA garden. Love the juxtaposition!
2. Qatar National Museum, not just for the desert rose-inspired building, but the compelling storytelling. There are large, original videos, taxidermied animals & fossils, Bedouin tents, dhows, lots of pearls & lots of interactivity that children will love (& so did I)!
At the heart of the new museum is the old palace. This animated map of Doha shows you how rapid the transformation has been. There was a Kusama-esque light & mirror installation. Tbh I couldn’t get enough of the structure itself.
3. Msheireb Museums: a cluster of four museums on 1) slavery 2) Doha’s growth & transformation 3) transformation of a home in Doha before & after discovery of oil & 4) the Anglo Persian oil company that started it all. All steps from each other in separate historic homes/venues.
The museum on slavery was powerful in talking about slavery in Muslim cultures, and modern day slavery, esp in Qatar. It was surprising to see the role played by Pashtun tribes in enslaving and trading Baluch people in the 19th century. I had no idea about this.
The one on Doha’s transformation was also jaw-dropping. Look at Doha in 1947, the year Pakistan got independence. There was a whole section on the razing down & rebuilding of the heart of Doha, Msheireb. Look at Kahraba Street in 2009 and (last photo) today 😱
4. The Msheireb neighborhood itself. The first neighborhood of Doha that had become derelict over time was razed almost entirely to the ground & built up from scratch, using historic/vernacular design principles for a medium-density, close-knit, high-quality urban fabric.
Walkable streets, lots of shaded plazas, courtyards, fountains, street side restaurants and cafes, wild grasses, beautiful mosques and just generally an urbanist utopia. Every small detail is thoughtfully designed.
5. Mathaf, the Arab Museum of Modern Art. Had a super moving exhibit by a Palestinian artist on Palestine, and one on Tipu Sultan and the tiger in colonial imagination.
6. M7, the design museum had an exhibit on the fashion house Valentino: the clothes, the process, the atelier. Just a visual treat!
M7 also had a bunch of other sculptures and exhibits, like this rose by Isa Genzken and Spooning by Subodh Gupta, and exhibits on furnitures, fabrics and automobiles.
7. Souq Waqif. Yes it’s the classic tourist trap, but there’s a lot of old shops and restaurants, and not everything is gentrified/inauthentic. Ofc everything is immaculately clean. During FIFA, it’s the unofficial fan fest and you’re bound to run into extempore celebrations.
8. The Doha Metro 🥹🚈. From the identity and maps to the signage system, from the vaulted stations to train frequencies, everything is delightful.
The metro is the primary means of getting to stadiums, esp for visitors, and so the Msheireb station, where all 3 lines connect, was filled with fans. At match times, the trains would be filled to the brim. It would be impossible to move thousands without the metro.
9. Qatar National Library. I was as blown away by the structure as I was by these incredible Ottoman maps 1) of the world and 2) the Mediterranean. Spent an entire evening with nephews & family there, lost in the books.
10. Lastly, the Corniche. I only managed to see maybe half of it, but if Doha felt spacious despite tens of thousands of visitors, it was because of this 6-km open, waterfront stretch.
I took time out to follow in my father’s footsteps & trace the place he worked at & lives around briefly in 1988: the Bank St. Looks very different now compared to his few photos. Found the cheapest chai + paratha roll combo in the street behind. Reminded me of Chundrigar Rd 🥲
Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t visit the parks: Oxygen, Aspire, al Bidda, Katara etc. Hopefully next visit. Also, only watched one game. Despite that, if this thread feels overwhelming, it’s because Doha was overwhelming, in a good way.
Sorry for the long thread. This is not an attempt to “culture-wash” Doha or defend it against attacks from Western press. Qatar has enough dough to do all that itself & they didn’t pay me for it. I personally found these things joyful & was pleasantly surprised.
Neither does this absolve Qatar of its labour & human rights issues. But as a Pakistani, I am in no moral place to lecture others. Of all the places I’ve visited in the Gulf, Qatar showed the most openness to these difficult conversations in their museums & cultural venues.
Hopefully, these conversations will lead to more actions as Doha, and Qatar, reflect on the legacy of the World Cup and the dramatic transformation of the country in the last 12 years.
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