Museum of Islamic Art has reopened

Qatar Museums has reopened the iconic Museum of Islamic Art (MIA)

Aimed at families with children, part of the new ethos at MIA is hands-on experiences and exploration. The newly coined ‘Family Trails’ are pre-planned routes that make navigating the museum’s galleries both simpler and more exciting.

MIA is also embracing a ‘learning through doing’ process. Different activations throughout the museum will allow big and little visitors to navigate via different senses, such as smell, sound and even, in some cases, touch.

Educational films will be accessible on new screens dotted around the galleries – a welcome addition and one that is sure to come in handy as several new displays take their place at the museum.

A completely new Southeast Asia room representing the Muslim populations of that region, and their significant presence in Qatar and the Gulf, is among these displays.

Relics of the holy city of Mecca and the great pilgrimage of hajj have also been added to the museum’s collection, while a Kaaba textile will feature permanently in the religious gallery.

The newly restored 19th-century Damascus Room will showcase one of MIA’s most impressive feats to date. A team of curators, researchers and conservators has spent three years re-assembling this remarkable room, down to the smallest details, which promises to provide visitors with a truly authentic experience.

The reimagining of MIA’s collection galleries introduces a comprehensive visitor trail, creates expanded interpretive materials to help contextualise the masterworks, and provides new mobile and child-friendly resources to make the Museum more accessible for families and younger guests.

The galleries are organised according to broad historical and cultural themes, periods and geography, and explore the great traditions of Islamic craftsmanship.

MIA also introduces a new section on Islam in Southeast Asia with focus on the connection between different cultures through exhibits on the trade of commodities and the exchange of ideas across the Islamic world and beyond.