The Museum of Islamic Art is dedicated to reflect the full vitality, complexity and diversity of art in the Islamic world. It is a world-class institution, whose collections include manuscripts, ceramics, metal, glass, ivory, textiles, wood and precious stones. Collected from three continents, including countries across the Middle East, and reaching as far as Spain and India, the Museum’s artworks date from the 7th century through to the 19th century. The pieces represent the diversity found in Islamic heritage and are to be regarded of the highest quality.
The building itself is a work of art done by Ieoh Ming Pei. It reflects traditional Islamic architecture with modern aesthetics. Visitors enter through a palm tree lined walkway to the main entrance. The grand entry hall gets its light from the domed oculus at the top. The treasures from the permanent collection are exhibited on two floors of galleries that encircle the atrium.
The galleries feature dark grey porphyry stone and Louro Faya, a Brazilian lacewood that was brushed and treated to create a metallic appearance, which contrast with the light-colored stonework of the rest of the Museum.
Under the leadership of Sheikha Al Mayassa Bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Chairman of the Qatar Museum Authority, the Museum of Islamic Art is the masterpiece of the transforming of Qatar into a cultural capital of the Middle East.
The inspiration of the genius Ieoh Ming Pei
Ieoh Ming Pei, the son of a banker, was born in Canton in 1917. He came to the United States to study in 1935. and matriculated at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in architectural engineering. In the 40´s Pei studied in Harvard, in the Graduate School of Design, being strongly influenced by Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer and their ideas about clean and flat surfaces.
His first professional experience was with the celebrated city planner/developer William Zeckendorf, for whom he designed large scale public housing projects in North America. In 1955 he founded his own firm, now called Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. Nowadays Pei is considered one of the most prolific architects of our times, having made more than fifty buildings all over the World. This veteran architect has incorporated both eastern and western ideas into his designs.
Among the numerous awards won by Pei there are the Pritzker Architecture prize in 1983 and the architects’ Gold Medal of the American Institute in 1979. He has got several honorary degrees from the most important universities in the World as Doctor of Human Letters, Doctor of Laws and Doctor of Fine Arts.
The Museum of Islamic Arts is considered by Ieoh Ming Pei as one of the most difficult jobs he has ever undertaken. The reason is simple: How to shown in one single building the essence of Islamic architecture when this culture is so diverse, ranging from Spain to the gates of China?
The task of finding a building that represents the pinnacle of Islamic architecture seemed impossible. Pei considered the Grand Mosque in Córdoba (Spain), the Jama Masjid, one of the largest mosques in India, and the Umayyad Great Mosque in Damascus. With the ribat fortresses at Monastir and Sousse, in Tunez, Pei felt that he was coming closer to the essence of Islam. At least, Ieoh Ming Pei found the perfect expression for Islamic building in the Mosque of Ahmad Ibn Tulun in Cairo, derived from its austerity and simplicity. It was this essence what Pei attempted to bring forth in the desert sun of Doha. It is the light of the desert that transforms the architecture into a play on light and shadow.
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