Resolutions: About the exhibition

Infrastructure: Traces of a Legacy

The establishment of a collection dedicated to modern and contemporary art from the Arab world was a visionary initiative. What began as a conversation in the early 1990s between artist and collector Sheikh Hassan bin Mohammed bin Ali Al Thani and his mentor, Yousef Ahmad, led to the development of a private museum and, eventually, to a public collection focused on Arab art—one of the largest of its kind.

A key moment in this process was the launch of an artist residency program, initiated after a first group of artworks arrived from Baghdad. Concerned by the scarcity of art materials in 1990s Iraq, then under international sanctions, Al Thani—working in consultation with Yousef Ahmad and Dia Azzawi—invited several Iraqi artists to work in Doha. Over time, the residency expanded to include other Arab artists from cities across the region and beyond.

This section features works produced during the residency, alongside archival materials that explore the collection’s founding context. Initially, the museum and the residency were based in two villas in Madinat Khalifa, which also housed Mesopotamian and Ancient Egyptian artifacts, Islamic manuscripts, and Arabesque furniture. In this culturally rich setting, some artists reimagined the interiors, transforming them into immersive, dynamic environments. In 1999, the site expanded to include the Qatar Art Center, with larger workshops for sculpture and printmaking.

Within these spaces, the artists maintained a delicate balance between individual production and collaborative exchange. While working in separate studios, they engaged in a continuous, dynamic dialogue, which included visits to museums, exhibitions, and excursions to the surrounding area—landscapes that informed and inspired their work. They were joined by other artists from various Arab cities, whom Al Thani gathered in his majlis in Doha, Cairo, or London. This fostered a cross-cultural and intergenerational conversation, transforming the residency into a vibrant cultural nexus.

Alongside the residency, a broader acquisition strategy was developed that aimed at reflecting the diversity of modern and contemporary Arab art. The archives of Mathaf—which include personal correspondence, photographs, and more—reveal that in founding an institution focused on modern and contemporary Arab art, Al Thani was not only preserving a legacy but also embodying the hopes and aspirations of an entire generation of Arab artists across the region.

Mathaf as Institutional Memory: An Exhibition History

Since opening fifteen years ago, Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art has established itself as a space for multifaceted creative and critical lines of thought through diverse curated art exhibitions and nuanced shows featuring works from the permanent collection. This timeline weaves together Mathaf’s history as a hub for modern and contemporary visual culture from the Arab world and the surrounding region—expanded through archival images, behind-the-scenes documentation, and publications chronicling shows held locally and internationally.

In both local and regional contexts, Mathaf acts as a platform showcasing a multitude of perspectives, including those that have been historically marginalised and under-documented. Conversely, Mathaf's international collaborations have built bridges with other institutions with the aim of expanding the global art historical canon to represent more fully artists from the region. In both contexts, these goals have been achieved through primary research and curatorial and exhibition practices.

This expansive presentation pays homage to those who have shaped Mathaf since its inception—as artists and curators, or through their intellectual and personal investment. The timeline’s aim is also to ensure the curatorial essence of each exhibition remains intact by maintaining some of the terms and phrases that initially brought them to life.

All in all, it provides a means of tracing Mathaf’s evolution over the years and a way to chronicle the regional zeitgeist since 2010. Through its investigation of a broad range of media as well as sociopolitical and personal histories, this timeline links Mathaf’s past and present to create a window into its future.

Al-Safina (The Ship) by Adam Henein

This is a small-scale model of Al-Safina (The Ship), one of Mathaf’s permanent outdoor sculptures. Conceptualised by the late Egyptian artist Adam Henein to represent a metaphorical alternative to the museum space, it was produced between 2009 and 2010 in Qatar and Aswan. Through geometric abstraction, Henein sculpted human and animal figures with simplified silhouettes influenced by the timeless aesthetic of ancient Egyptian antiquity. Several photographs of Al-Safina being fabricated in Aswan are included in the archival display.

Education: Art as Knowledge Creation

This section explores the significance of knowledge circulation, emphasising the foundational role of art education in both its formal and informal contexts. The expanded role of art education is key to modern and contemporary visual culture in the Arab world and has often cultivated revolutionary possibilities across the artistic landscape.

Avant-garde teaching methods challenged colonial traditions post-independence, as artists assumed educational and institutional roles, founding new departments for the study of fine arts across a wide range of disciplines. These academic institutions created the modern cultural infrastructure within these nations, encouraging new forms of exchange. Regional mentorships and friendships also supported experimental modes of visual expression.

Beyond the traditional educational settings, cultural clubs, independent art spaces, and art associations served as collaborative networks that fostered mutual learning. Meanwhile, literary journals and magazines emerged throughout the region, offering platforms for intergenerational post-colonial discussion. These artistic, cultural, and sociopolitical shifts redefined the position of the artist within the wider community, shaping dynamic frameworks that have established an enduring legacy of collaboration and creative dialogue.

Representation

Dated from 1847 until today, the works from Mathaf's permanent collection are representative of local art practices but also illustrate the development of transnational art histories across the countries of the Arab world. After independence, artists from West Asia and North Africa have striven towards a shared visual vocabulary that celebrates a common social-cultural ground. Delving into the heritage of Arab-Islamic civilisations, artists located aesthetic, cultural, and historical references they hoped would help to overcome geographical distance.

Over the 1960s and up until the 1980s, a tentative form of regionalism emerged as an expression of solidarity amongst Arab artists, fostering exchange and dialogue. Artists in this period were often responding to questions of identity and power asymmetries within the postcolonial world. This social awakening, and the pervasive sense of being unified against colonisation, mirrored Pan-Arab ideology, particularly at a time of resistance against the Israeli occupation of Palestine. The exhibited artworks from Mathaf’s collections embody the collective efforts by the artists to strengthen the Arab community.