Doha, Qatar: Qatar Museums (QM) yesterday announced a wide-ranging roster of exhibitions and events that will be inaugurated beginning October 23, 2025, in a fall season that showcases the full scope and diversity of QM’s institutions.
Led by H E Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani as Chairperson, Qatar Museums was established in 2005.
The anniversary exhibition season is presented as part of Evolution Nation, an 18-month campaign honouring Qatar’s cultural journey over the past 50 years, since the founding of the National Museum of Qatar.
H E Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani said “For half a century, arts and culture have been a source of pride and unity for Qatar, as well as a vehicle for engaging with other people around the world in a spirit of openness and understanding. At Qatar Museums, we are excited this fall to celebrate the creative energy that has made Qatar into a true Evolution Nation, thanks to the vision of the Father Amir and the continuing leadership of His Highness the Amir, Sheikh Tamim.”
Highlights of the QM fall exhibitions season include A Nation’s Legacy, A People’s Memory: Fifty Years Told at the National Museum of Qatar (NMoQ). The exhibition will trace the story of the Museum starting in 1975, when it opened in an historic palace as the first institution of its kind in the Gulf, through to the present day, when NMoQ is housed in an iconic, internationally acclaimed building designed by Jean Nouvel. Additionally, Countryside: A Place to Live, Not Leave, presented at both the National Museum of Qatar and the Qatar Preparatory School, in collaboration with Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) will spotlight an international research project led by architects Rem Koolhaas and Samir Bantal that evaluates the future of rural living in regions across Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia.
I. M. Pei: Life Is Architecture, the first full-scale retrospective organised by M+ in collaboration with Qatar Museums, will be on view at Al Riwaq—Qatar Museums’ multidisciplinary space at the intersection of contemporary art and architecture. The exhibition includes original drawings, sketches, models, and rarely seen archival materials that celebrate the life and legacy of the iconic Chinese-American architect Ieoh Ming Pei (1917 - 2019). At the same time, the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) and the future Art Mill Museum (AMM) will jointly organise I. M. Pei and the Making of the Museum of Islamic Art: From Square to Octagon and Octagon to Circle at the Museum of Islamic Art.
