DOHA: A total of 60,000 people have visited the series of exhibitions by Qatar Museums Authority (QMA) in the past eight weeks.
Just over half way through the exhibition programme, record-number visitors have flocked to see Damien Hirst Relics at Al Riwaq, his first and largest exhibition in the Middle East. With striking works such as Leviathan (2006 - 2013), his largest formaldehyde work to date, consisting of a 6.8 metre basking shark preserved and contained in a 10 metre vitrine, education has been a core part of the exhibition with over 1500 students across all grades from 50 different schools visiting the show, as well as six university groups.
The Museum of Islamic Art is on track to see huge visitor numbers for Hajj: A Journey Through Art. Taking the viewer on a journey exploring and illuminating the Muslim pilgrimage of Hajj, the exhibition presents artworks from MIA and objects from Qatari collections, many of which have never before been displayed in public.
At the QMA Gallery in Katara, Francesco Vezzoli’s Museum of Crying Women showcasing striking portraits of iconic female figures of the last century have been engaging crowds through social media, inviting visitors to capture and tweet their own portrait with a signature Vezzoli tear.
While at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Adel Abdessemed’s exhibition L’âge d’or, has been generating discussion and debate with his thought provoking show.
the peninsula
