Ambitious new art and cultural projects are opening in Qatar as the country gears up to welcome a flood of visitors for the FIFA World Cup in 2022.The newly opened national museum, Mathaf: Arab museum of Modern Art, is a national project which hosts immersive art to provide a space for the past and the future to meet. The building’s complex design is a symbol of national identity, history, and bedouin culture. The museum also serves as a landmark and a sign of Qatar becoming a regional cultural hub despite the 2-year long blockade by neighboring countries including Saudi Arabia, united Arab Emirates, and Bahrain. Currently, the first large scale exhibition of India’s most celebrated 20th century artist, Maqbool Fida Husain, is on display at the museum until July 2019. The exhibition, titled M. F. Husain: Horses of the Sun, includes over 100 works by the often controversial, modern artist who took refuge in Qatar in 2010 following protests in India regarding his depiction of hindu goddesses.  

Chairperson of Qatar museums, Sheika Al Mayassa noted that the growth of a country can be measured by their growth of artists in a country. Culture endorses understanding and tolerance and Al Mayassa hopes culture “remains a key sector in the growth of nations around the world to promote sustainability and universal dialogue.”