Museum of Islamic Art

Foyer of the Museum of Islamic Art

I am in Doha for the day.  I spent the morning at Souq Waqif and The Pearl and much of the afternoon walking the sights after a dhow ride (see Doha by Dhow).  I had originally set aside a few hours in my itinerary for the Museum of Islamic Art although as I get here I realise my time is going to be much more limited than I had hoped.

There’s no time to waste so after the picturesque walk to the Museum at the top of an equally picturesque approach, I delve in.  There are no lines and after a quick security clearance, I am in the central foyer with my eyes drawn straight to the top.  From the outside, the building is a concrete structure with few detectable windows, reminiscent of the “brutalist” 1970’s architecture of the National Gallery of Australia (NGA).

The inside, however, is vastly different to the NGA and I get the impression that this may be my first taste of (modern) Islamic influences before I even enter the galleries.  Everything about this interior, from the ceiling design of the central atrium, to the staircase and suspended walkways and of course the sweeping views of the water across to West Bay is visually pleasing.  Part of this for me is the patterns and repeats as well as the symmetry of design.  I love it.

So my original intention was to work my way from the top (3rd floor) down, starting with the early Islamic Art (7th – 12th Century), through Iran, Central Asian, Egyptian, Syrian, Indian & Turkish exhibits encompassing the 12th-19th Centuries and then move down to the sciences, patterns, calligraphy and the figure in art rooms (on the 2nd floor), saving the temporary exhibits (if any) for last if there is time (and energy!) left over.  Since I have arrived a lot later than expected, however, I reconsider and begin on the 2nd floor in the conveniently named Introduction Gallery.

I haven’t any preconceived ideas of the actual art here, despite having studied the floor plan and I’m not sure what to expect.  I enter the dimly lit Introduction room and read the written introduction to Islamic Art up on the wall, just to the side of the doorway:

“The origin of Islamic art begins with a desire to establish a distinctive identity.  With a foundation in the artistic traditions of past empires, a new and original art was born.  Rapid territorial expansion, trade and innovation each left their mark, but Islamic art has retained a unique visual language through the centuries.

Art from the Islamic world is not restricted to any particular kind of object, as often found in other cultures.  The need to make ordinary objects beautiful demonstrates how art was a part of everyday life.  The materials can be modest, as clay used for the pottery, or luxurious, as the gold in jewelry.

This gallery shows some of the highlights of the Qatar collection.  Ranging geographically from Spain to China and spanning nearly a thousand years in time, our collection reflects the diversity of many cultures and ideas within one civilisation.”

The first thing that catches my eye is a beautifully colored glass bucket, the tints still alive despite its age.  The patterns are intricate and I can make out several images of birds, fish, something feline in nature and another figure that may be a lion or a dragon of some kind.  This is indeed, a beautiful object.

Earthenware dish with slip painting – 10th Century, Iran or Central Asia

Next is a dish.  Not as intricate or spectacular as the glass bucket but I’m surprised to see that it dates to the 10th Century given that it appears to be in such good condition.

One thing I was expecting was paintings, but again, nothing so intricate as this decorated folio page, one of the miniatures from the Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp.  The Shahnameh itself is “The Book of Kings” an epic poem of Greater Persia.  It is the longest poem ever written but is not named for the poet but for the Shah (king) of Iran at the time this work of art – consisting of 759 pages, 258 pages of which are miniatures such as this.  The manuscript has been split up but a sizable number are held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York having been acquired mid 20th Century when pages of the manuscript were sold.

This ewer from Herat in Afghanistan is intricately decorated with a variety of patterns as well as the imagery of a lion on the neck.  I wonder at the time that it would have take to make this intricate piece.

The next piece to catch my eye is this striking carpet.  It’s large and the woven silk and cotton fibers catch the lights concentrated on it and give it a glowing quality.  It’s the red that I use as a feature in my lounge room at home and the thought passes through my mind of whether it would fit on my wall (or floor!).  It seems I will have to look for my own pomegranate inspired textile art as I doubt this one is going anywhere.

On a much, much smaller scale is this bloodstone cameo of Emperor Shah Jahan.  The Emperor was best known for his commissioning of the Taj Mahal where his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, lays entombed.

The following necklace can be imagined on a beautiful Mughal empress as much as any modern day princess.  Mughal royalty were lovers of precious stones as much for their beauty as for the belief in the gemstone’s properties and often titles and names were engraved on the stones themselves.  A symbol of wealth and power to any monarchy these gems were also treasured as protective talismans.

Apart from the labels there isn’t a lot of additional information available at the museum, nor on the MIA’s website.  This pair of embroidered panels is no different, yet it leaves the imagination to run wild as to how the discoloration on the right panel came about and the life of the textiles for the past six or seven hundred years.

The Great Umayyad Qur’an, dating from the 8th Century is reputedly one of the most well-studied manuscripts of the Qur’an.  This text, measuring 41cm x 47cm, is believed to originate from Syria.  I don’t know much about the Qur’an at all, other than that it is the central religious text of Islam and can be compared to the Christian Bible.  However, the writing from long ago is fluid and deliberate, so similar to the Christian religious texts of the time that I can’t help but feel a sense of awe as to its history and purpose.

This beautiful carved and stained arch is believed to be part of a muqarnas arch, part of an ornamented and vaulted ceiling used for domes and apses.  If so, this would be only a small piece of the larger cross section.  Described here as Moroccan, I wonder how it came to be here.

There is so much to see and I’m still in the first room, the Introduction Gallery.  There are many magnificent examples of ceramics.  This particular style of water bottle, known as sürahi, refers to the long neck shape and is traditionally made of clay to keep the water cool.

Another water related article, this magnificent bronze fountainhead, in the shape of a hind (female deer).  The display reads that it is from the Spanish Umayyad (711 – 1031AD) dynasty.  When the Syrian Umayyad dynasty fell, one of its surviving members escaped to Córdoba in southern Spain.  He established himself as ruler of the Caliphate of Córdoba, an area known as Al-Andalus (Andalusia) or Islamic Spain and restored the capital to reflect his Syrian heritage.  Islamic influenced art and architecture flourished and examples of this style and craftsmanship remained even after the dynasty fell.  There is another fabulous bronze fountainhead in the collection – a bird, possibly a peacock.

The design of this carpet is known as ‘Holbein’, named for Hans Holbein the Younger a 16th Century painter who used the carpets in many of his paintings.  The carpets themselves, however, began to be produced at least a couple of decades before they appeared in his paintings.  The style is very much an Islamic influenced design which became popular in Anatolian regions.  The geometric patterns were produced for a couple of centuries in variations of the design.

I know I have to move on so I continue into the Pattern Gallery and check out some of the wonderful patterns.  I have long been a fan of Islamic style design, for its color and simplicity but mostly for the symmetrical nature of the motifs.  Symmetry is something that appeals to me greatly.

There are all sorts of wonderful tiles – lobed, square, leaf shaped, stars, crosses, one I spot in the shape of script and some that are just remaining fragments.  I like the blue ones the most in varying tones of turquoise and cobalt.  I do a quick walk around and take a quick look in the Sciences Gallery, there are so many items I’d like to explore – literally dozens of astrolabes – but I come back to the patterns.

Something else to swoon over are these Ottoman dishes.  Once again the turquoise and cobalt blues shining through.  I make a note to myself to source something spectacular in the many souqs and bazaars around the place that sell this type of dish.  It would make a colorful and unique addition to my table.

There is only a little time left.  I come across this particularly lovely astrolabe.  An astrolabe is an inclinometer, a kind of ancient computer, used to measure time by reference to the angle of inclination to celestial objects, namely the stars and sun.  I’m a huge fan of astronomical instruments, the older the better, and these are just wonderful.  But they’re also very small and detailed and placed behind glass.  Some of the finer details are hard to see and there is little information here to spark further curiosity at this late stage in the day.

Another area that piques my interest is the written text and there is a whole wing dedicated to calligraphy here.  The gilded leather book binding flap from Egypt in the 14th Century is something I would like to learn more about.

One more, just one more……this heavily decorated dagger and scabbard looks too precious to actually use.  Hailing from India, again I search for more information that just isn’t there.  Who made it?  Who did it belong to?  Was it crafted for an occasion, a person, a celebration?  Was it used?  Was it handed down through generations or just abandoned?  I guess we’ll never know.

Steel dagger and scabbard inlaid with nephrite (jade), rubies, emeralds, diamonds, gold and velvet, c.1800, India

I think this is also the reason that I could spend so much more time here.  There are so many things to explore, so many questions to be asked and so many potential stories to uncover.  For now though, my story must come to an end.  I’m cutting it a bit fine and still have a good, brisk 10 minute walk back to the pick up point for the port.

I reluctantly look up one more time.  Now that the world of Islamic art has been opened up to me, I am eager to learn more.  At least I’ll be able to enjoy that symmetry of design and those fabulous patterns in architecture for a little longer.

Good To Know

The descriptions attributed to the artifacts in this post are those given by the Museum Of Islamic Art.  The facts and history have been researched by the author using various websites including but not limited to Wikipedia.  All photos in this post are by the author.

Would I Return?

Yes.  I certainly hope to one day.