Qatar Museums is preparing to open a special exhibition, presenting the Art Mill Museum designed by ELEMENTAL, led by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Alejandro Aravena.

The exhibition, titled Art Mill Museum 2030, will be on view to the public from 24 October 2022 through 30 March 2023 in two venues; at the Qatar Flour Mills Warehouse and the recently renovated Al Najada Heritage House #15 in Doha, Qatar.

With this new exhibition, a set of new renderings have been released by Qatar Museums. Ahead towards the opening of the Art Mill Museum in 2030, the exhibition will introduce the concept of the museum, the architectural project by ELEMENTAL and the garden design.

ELEMENTAL is one of the offices who design three major museums in Qatar, which was announced in March this year. Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron will design Lusail Museum, while Rem Koolhaas of OMA will design Qatar Auto Museum.

The new Art Mill Museum is one of the important buildings in a cultural district that already comprises the Museum of Islamic Art, MIA Park and the National Museum of Qatar by Jean Nouvel. 

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. 

View from the South Doha, Qatar, 2022. Image © Qatar Museums

Encompassing a total 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. 

Described as a pioneering institution in the non-Western world, the museum 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. 

ELEMENTAL won the Art Mill International Design Competition with The Art Mill in 2017 to be built at the site of the historic Flour Mill in Doha. While the firm is responsible for architectural design, a signature public garden is designed by Swiss firm VOGT Landscape Architects, led by Günther Vogt. 

Hafid Rakem is the Director of Museum Architecture Development and Caroline Hancock is the Senior Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art.

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.

View from the South entrance of the Museum, Doha, Qatar, 2022. Image © Qatar Museums

"It will be one of the world’s leading museums of modern and contemporary art"

"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," said Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chairperson of Qatar Museums.

"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," added Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chairperson of Qatar Museums.

"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," said Catherine Grenier, the Art Mill Museum Concept Director.

"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 added.

The exhibition Art Mill Museum 2030, set to open on 24 October, will present the vision of the museum, the architectural project, and the signature garden, and will be visited 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.

View of a small courtyard in the Creative Village, Doha, Qatar, 2022. Image © Qatar Museums

Site 1 exhibition, titled From Flour to Art, will introduce the vision for the museum and give 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.

Yasmina Benabderrahmane (1983, France – works in Paris), Mohammed Kamal Al Emadi (1988, Qatar – works in Doha), François-Xavier Gbré (1978, France – works in France and Côte d’Ivoire), 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) are among the artists who will showcase their works.

Site 2 exhibition, titled The Museum’s Garden, will be installed at Al Najada Heritage House #15, a recently renovated house near Souq Waqif. This presentation is devoted to the development of the signature garden of the Art Mill Museum, designed by VOGT Landscape Architects, and its inspirations. 

A display of VOGT’s drawings and a selection of beautifully illustrated reference books from the collection of Qatar Museums and loans from Qatar National Library and from Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, will highlight the reinterpretation of traditional Islamic gardens. 

In addition, two artworks will be on view at the exhibition, including a mosaic by Hamra Abbas (1976, Kuwait – works in Lahore, Pakistan) and a commissioned film by Amal Al Muftah (1994, Qatar – works in Doha) produced in collaboration with Doha Film Institute (DFI).

ELEMENTAL, Art Mill Museum conceptual design: view from the South (Doha, Qatar), 2022. Image courtesy of Qatar Museums

The exhibition Art Mill Museum 2030 is curated by Aurélien Lemonier, Art Mill Museum Curator of Architecture, Design and Gardens, with Maryam Hassan Al Thani, Curator, Qatar Museums Exhibitions Department. The exhibition’s Project Manager is Malak Hassan, Qatar Museums Exhibitions Department. Commissions for the exhibition have been managed by Clémence Bergal, Art Mill Museum Head of Collections and Commissions.

The exhibition has been designed by Studio Adrien Gardère, Paris, also the museographer of the Art Mill Museum.

Art Mill Museum 2030 is part of Qatar Creates — the year-round national cultural movement that curates, promotes, and celebrates the diversity of cultural activities in Qatar; connecting resident and global audiences with Qatar’s creative industries. 

Top image: ELEMENTAL, Art Mill Museum conceptual design: view from the South (Doha, Qatar), 2022, Rendering, Courtesy of Qatar Museums.

> via Qatar Musuems 

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