Qatar Museums Opens "Art Mill Museum 2030" Exhibition

Art Mill Museum 2030

HE Chairperson of Qatar Museums Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad Al-Thani opened Qatar Museums' special exhibition Art Mill Museum 2030, alongside a number of VIPs.

The exhibition is now on view to the public from Oct. 24, 2022, through March 30, 2023, at the Qatar Flour Mills Warehouse and the recently renovated Al Najada Heritage House #15 in Doha. Looking ahead towards the opening of the Art Mill Museum Matahen Alfan in 2030, the exhibition will introduce the concept of the museum, the architectural project by ELEMENTAL, led by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Alejandro Aravena, and the garden design.

Completing a cultural district that already comprises the Museum of Islamic Art, MIA Park and the National Museum of Qatar, the Art Mill Museum will house an exceptional and international art collection assembled over the past 40 years, with multidisciplinary works of great diversity dating from 1850 to the present. In a main building of 80,000 square meters (including 23,000 square meters of gallery spaces), the Art Mill Museum will offer visual art icons as well as architecture and design, films and film props, fashion, crafts, and much more.

A pioneering institution in the non-Western world, it will represent the modern and contemporary arts of all regions of the globe on an equal basis, engaging local and international audiences alike through multiple narratives of art history. The museum concept has been developed by art historian and museum director Catherine Grenier and the prefiguration team. A signature public garden is designed by VOGT Landscape Architects, led by Gunther Vogt. A creative village for arts, crafts and design will provide recreational, learning and production resources for the general public and for the creative communities of Qatar and beyond.

HE Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad Al-Thani, Chairperson of Qatar Museums, said, "As visitors from around the world come to Doha for Qatar Creates and the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, we are thrilled to take the public behind the scenes, revealing the complex and fascinating process of how we are developing an institution that will be one of the world's leading museums of modern and contemporary art. The Art Mill Museum is the conclusion of a twenty-five-year cultural plan. It will place Arab modern and contemporary art in the context of global art, allowing us to further engage with the rest of the world by creating new, unexpected narratives."

The Art Mill Museum Concept Director commented, "The Art Mill Museum will be Qatar's museum of modern arts and cultures, presenting the nation's world-class, international collections from the 19th century to today. It is too early to present the extensive collections, but we are delighted to propose this sneak preview of the museum development process at this key stage prior to construction. Art Mill Museum 2030 allows us to present the ideas and artistic viewpoint for the museum, the landmark architecture, the garden and the creative village.

This development of the museum beyond its walls will include spaces for creativity, performance, coworking, art education, and varied leisure spaces for local and international audiences." Grenier continued, "Visitors will have access for the first time ever to a part of the flour mill where the project will emerge.

The exhibition includes several new specially commissioned artworks that distinctly consider the flour mill and its current industrial activities as a subject. We are collectively creating a shared archive with memories of this significant site before its transformation." The exhibition Art Mill Museum 2030, which will present the vision of the museum, the architectural project, and the signature garden, will be on view in two locations:  the site of the flour mill on Doha's Corniche, built in the 1990s, that is being creatively reimagined as the site of the museum, and Al Najada Heritage House #15. Each venue will present different aspects of the development of the Art Mill Museum and be free of charge for visitors.

HE Acting Deputy CEO of Exhibitions and Marketing and the Director of Centralized Exhibitions at Qatar Museums Sheikha Reem Al-Thani, said that the "Art Mill Museum 2030" exhibition provides the opportunity to present ideas and artistic views of the museum, its architectural design, the garden and the creative neighborhood.

She added that the development process will include outside the walls of the museum, creating spaces for creativity, performance, co-working, artistic education, and various recreational spaces dedicated to local and international audiences. She pointed out that visitors will be able, for the first time ever, to see a part of the flour mill in which the project will be located.

Speaking to Qatar News Agency (QNA), Sheikha Maryam Hassan Al-Thani, senior curator at the exhibitions department of Qatar Museums, said that the "Flour to Art" installation reflects the vision of the museum that will open in 2030.

The installation From Flour to Art introduces the vision for the museum and gives the public its first opportunity to enter what will be part of the future complex. Visitors will see how the architect Alejandro Aravena and ELEMENTAL will reimagine the existing building, characterised by its spectacular concrete silos, to produce a museum that incorporates a creative village and public garden.

The evolution of the project, from the international design competition in 2016 to now, will be revealed through an engrossing display that includes original models, drawings and renderings.

To reflect the transformation of the site and demonstrate how the Art Mill Museum will be a place for contemporary creativity, artists have been commissioned to create films and photographs establishing the parallels between the flour mill and the future museum.

The commissioned artists are Yasmina Benabderrahmane (1983, France works in Paris), Mohammed Kamal Al Emadi (1988, Qatar works in Doha), Francois-Xavier Gbre (1978, France works in France and Côte dIvoire), Ali Kazma (1971, Turkey works in Istanbul and Paris), Amal Al Muftah (1994, Qatar works in Doha), Shaima Al Tamimi (1984, Yemen/Kenya works in Qatar).

(QNA)