Q Life Magazine Q Magazine December 2017 | Page 41
Creating a global hub for sport, art and culture |
| MIA exterior
culture, and the contributions to
the advancement of humankind
and society that we owe to it –
intellectually, economically and
artistically.
A collection without compare
The museum is home to one of
the finest collections of Islamic art
in the world. It showcases Qatar’s
world-class collections of Islamic art
stretching back over 1,400 years to
the present day and celebrates both
the secular and religious aspects of
diverse geographies and regions,
right the way across the Arab World.
Collected from three continents,
including countries across the
Middle East, and reaching as far
as Spain and China, the Museum’s
artworks date from the 7 th through to
the 20 th century.
The collection includes manuscripts,
ceramics, metal, glass, ivory, textiles,
wood and precious stones. Drawn
from the treasure-houses of princes
to the personal homes of ordinary
people, each object tells a fascinating
story about itself and the world it
comes from.
Together they celebrate the
influence, importance and
contribution of Islamic art and
culture on the world. The collections
at MIA are Islamic in nature, though
many of them are non-religious.
Amongst the many highlights of the
collection include one of the oldest
surviving Islamic astrolabes in the
world dating back to the 9 th century,
one of the largest Islamic Coin
collections totalling almost 100,000
items, and incredi bly rare Ka‘ba keys
from the 14 th -century Mamluk era –
of particular interest in Islamic art
and culture.
An architectural masterpiece
– where traditional Islamic
architecture
meets the 21 st century
The museum is a work of art in
itself. Designed by Pritzker Prize-
winning Chinese-American architect
I. M. Pei, it has quickly become
an iconic feature of the Doha
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