Qatar Museums expands online collections with enhanced features and 60% more artworks

Qatar Museums (QM) has expanded its Online Collections platform by 60% since its launch in April 2025, increasing the number of digitised objects from around 1,000 to more than 1,600.

The platform has also introduced several new digital features, including artist-created animations, games, quizzes, personalised collections, an interactive timeline and AI-supported recommendations.

Digital Access to Qatar’s Cultural Collections

Available in both English and Arabic, the Online Collections platform allows audiences in Qatar and around the world to explore artworks and cultural objects digitally.

The collection features objects from the National Museum of Qatar, Museum of Islamic Art, Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum, along with other Qatar Museums collections.

New objects are added regularly, giving visitors more opportunities to discover Qatar's artistic, cultural and historical heritage.

New Personalised Features

Visitors can now create personal accounts, save their favourite objects and organise them into custom collections. This makes it easier for users to revisit and explore objects that interest them.

The platform also features an interactive timeline covering periods from 300,000 BCE to the present day. Users can browse objects chronologically and apply filters based on museums, materials and other collection details.

Explore and Compare Objects

Each object page provides detailed information, including its title, place of production, date, period, material, technique, dimensions and holding museum.

Users can also compare objects side by side and explore related information through clickable metadata, making it easier to understand connections between different works and objects.

AI-Powered Recommendations

New recommendation tools suggest objects based on shared characteristics such as material, category and historical period.

An AI-supported visual matching feature also allows users to discover objects that look visually similar across Qatar Museums' digital collection.

Games, Quizzes and Artist-Created Animations

The platform introduces games and quizzes designed to make learning about cultural objects more interactive and engaging.

Artist-created animated videos by Andrey Zakirzyanov offer another way to experience selected artworks. Known for his hand-crafted animations that reinterpret iconic paintings through movement, Zakirzyanov has created animated interpretations of works by Vincent van Gogh and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, which have attracted millions of views on social media.

Platform Developed with MCIT Support

The latest enhancements were developed through a project sponsored by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT).

Qatar-based digital experience company Applab served as the development partner for the project.

Wide Range of Collection Categories

The Online Collections platform covers a broad range of categories, including:

• Paintings

• Printed and written materials

• Numismatics

• Accessories and jewellery

• Archaeology

• Textiles and clothing

• Machinery and equipment

Explore Qatar Museums Online

Visitors can explore Qatar Museums' digital collection and discover more than 1,600 cultural objects through the Online Collections platform.

To visit Qatar Museums’ Online Collections, go to: collections.qm.org.qa