About the Galleries

Note: Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art’s Permanent Collection Galleries 8–11 are temporarily closed as we prepare for something new, opening this spring. Stay tuned for more updates. 

Major themes of aesthetics and politics of change and progress within multiple modernities and histories of art and society are addressed: the rise of nation states; colonial struggles and post-independence projects of reconstruction; the development and influence of the oil industry; the birth of new urban centers and cities; and aspirations to progress in a global, hyper digitalized and networked era.

Many of these works address the movement of human civilization through rapidly changing models in history. For example, the paintings and sculptures by Mahmoud Mokhtar, Hafidh Droubi, and Jawad Selim create new visual tendencies inspired by ancient civilizations. Works by Chaibia, Inji Efflatoun, Paul Guiragossian, Faiq Hassan, and Issa Saqer are portraits of society, while the work of Seif Wanly, Abdullah al-Muharraqi, and Hamed Owais depict social and industrial progress.

Traditional signs, craft and calligraphy are appropriated by Ahmed Cherkaoui, Chaouki Choukini, and Parviz Tanavoli. Abstracted geometric forms, as well as architecture, science, and technology are active in the work of Saloua Raouda Choucair, Jilali Gharbaoui, and Mohamed Melehi. Hassan Sharif, Faraj Daham, and Yousef Ahmad use natural materials, found objects, and local languages to express strong statements on the shifting economic and ecological environments of the UAE and Qatar.

Artists, poets, and artworks are witnesses to histories and changing perspectives. The display considers the production of art driven by colonial and Post-Independence geopolitics, as well as pan-African and pan-Arab cultural movements from the late 1950s to transnational connections of the Generation 00 artists working in the 2000s’, who made strong statements preceding the Arab Spring and current revolutionary changes around the world. The political and artistic positions of Farid Belkahia, Ibrahim El Salahi, and Hossein Zenderoudi contribute to the reinvention of visual languages that rupture Eurocentric canons. Contemporary conceptual works by Manal AlDowayan, Hayv Kahraman, and Wael Shawky question historical narratives and interrogate struggles for freedom.

Looking beyond linear histories of art, Mathaf gives value to critical thinking and artistic production across multiple modernities highlighting the emergence of new tendencies in art over the last hundred years that is connected to the transformation of social and ecological landscapes.

The display of Mathaf’s permanent collection proposes reading a multitude of approaches and statements on the making of art. It is conceived with a curatorial approach that looks at art histories and discourses of major tendencies and movements in dialogue with pan-Arab cultural groups and international avant-gardes. Shaped by diverse sociopolitical contexts and conditions of production, the museum and the collection contribute an original perspective to local and global conversations on art and society.

Galleries 1–7: Temporary Exhibitions

Mathaf's temporary exhibitions present internationally acclaimed modern and contemporary artists. These exhibitions introduce artists whose work plays an important role in opening conversations on the social and political shifts in the history and contemporary life of Qatar, Middle East and Arab world, to investigate the way societies are structured, and interrogate the role art plays in our local and regional contexts. 

Permanent Collection Galleries (Galleries 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)

This permanent collection rotation is based on the thematic framework of the 2017 curatorship, displayed across five galleries. Within the existing concepts, new sub-themes are narrating multiple ways of discovering the wide-ranging artistic practices within the global discourse of modern and contemporary art. As a dedicated space for alternative approaches to the historical conceptions of art, Mathaf continues to unveil the extensive scope of its collection.

Gallery 8

Gallery 8, Women in Society, highlights iconic works that challenge sociocultural norms and representations of women’s identity. This rotation introduces a variety of artistic practices, with each having its own narratives, such as Huguette Caland’s inspirations of textiles and motherland. Depictions of everyday life and family are core elements of understanding the region’s culture, namely in the works of Jewad Salim and Jassim al-Zaini.

Gallery 9

Key political and cultural events of the twentieth-century shaped artists' response to modernity in Gallery 9, Portraits of Changing Societies, Witnessing and Reading Histories. This includes the establishment of newly independent nations with solid ties to heritage, industrial developments and intercultural encounters. While the region shares a common identity, each country differs in its experience from Iraq and the Gulf to 1950s revolutionary Egypt. This legacy of mediated cultural memory transforms into contemporary re-interpretations.

Gallery 10

Gallery 10 showcases the development of the Arabic script from its modern beginnings, exemplified in the works of Jamil Hamoudi and Madiha Umar, to later generational practices. The Arabic letter’s infinite nature embedded in its Islamic calligraphy techniques evolved but remained authentic to its cultural identity. Exploring the originality of this art form led artists to examine its significance in surrounding geographies with common traditions.

Gallery 11

Building on this infinitude notion, Gallery 11 presents an independent identity of abstract expressionism inspired by cultural practices. A central characteristic of the artistic practices on display is their rhythmic flow, creating a visual encounter of colour and material drawn from their cultural heritage. This gallery challenges the traditional understanding of abstraction and its evolution in non-western contexts.

Gallery 12

Gallery 12 showcases a large installation by contemporary artist Kader Attia derived from his research on colonial history and its legacy on the discourses of ‘othering’. Themes of colonialism are examined through the selected objects existing in various cultural contexts concerning the artist’s concept of repair. The viewer is invited to explore the multi-layered process of the repair, from its physical nature to the philosophical conditions adopting de-colonial theories.

As more research arises, the narrative of art production from the region continues to develop from a non-colonial perspective, restoring its cultural identity. Within this diverse geography exists individual socio-political histories relevant to contemporary debates. Techniques rooted in heritage represent an authentic response to modernisation in the dominant Western understanding of art history.