Qatar′s new National Museum – a rose in the desert
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A prestigious building: French architect Jean Nouvel is known for his impressive museum designs. Following on from projects in Paris and Abu Dhabi, his latest structure has just opened in Doha. Costing half a billion U.S. dollars, the National Museum of Qatar seeks to showcase the past, present and future of this desert state -
Utopian project: a visit to the National Museum takes two hours and ends with the discovery of the former royal palace, restored by a Berlin architecture firm. The tour is divided into three sections, which in turn consist of eleven galleries. Jean Nouvel was also responsible for the exhibition architecture -
The museum tells the story of the small emirate, which is about the same size as Yorkshire in the UK. It presents both the former desert existence of the Bedouin tribes and their visions and aspirations for the future -
From its beginnings to the present day: the journey begins with the founding of the village of al-Bid in 1760 by the Bedouin tribe of the Al Thani clan, which subsequently became Doha. At the end of the 19th century Qatar came under British influence. The route through the museum is structured chronologically and stretches over 2.7 kilometres -
From desert state to oil nation: the permanent exhibition shows works and objects from the early geological era through the settlement of the peninsula to the present day. In 1939, oil was discovered for the first time near the city of Doha. Qatar became a founding member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The first free elections were held in 1999. Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, the 8th Emir of Qatar, has been in office since 2013