Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art

Mathaf holds one of the largest collections of modern and contemporary Arab art anywhere, built up over decades by Sheikh Hassan bin Mohammed Al Thani and covering work from the 1840s to the present across the Arab world and its diasporas. It occupies a converted school building in Education City, adapted by the French architect Jean-François Bodin. Exhibitions rotate and only a portion of the collection is shown at a time.

History

Sheikh Hassan bin Mohammed Al Thani began collecting the work of Arab artists of the last 200 years in the early 1990s, aiming to found a museum. It opened in 2010 in a former school in Education City, adapted by Jean-François Bodin, as the country's first museum of modern and contemporary art, and in 2013 it launched the Encyclopedia of Modern Art and the Arab World (Wikipedia, Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art).

What you'll find

• The Arab modernism - work from the 1840s onward across the Arab world.
• The collection's origin - decades of private collecting by one member of the ruling family.
• The converted school - a plain building adapted rather than purpose-built.
• The rotating exhibitions - a portion of the holdings shown at any one time.

When to go

November to March is the comfortable season. The museum keeps set hours and closes on some days. Exhibitions change several times a year.

Things to know

Only a fraction of the collection is on display at any time. The building is functional rather than notable. Education City is spread out and getting there takes planning.

Nearby

Aspire Park is south, and central Doha is east.

Key facts