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One person who is constantly
reminded of this is Aisha Al
Khater, the zealous Director
of MIA who is forever think-
ing of innovative ways to
make the museum even more
accessible to everyone. Nobody sees the
art in the Museum of Islamic Art; they fo-
cus on the Islamic part and assume that it is
a museum about the religion. We are some-
times referred to as the Museum of Islam.
We are a museum about the religion but not
only about it, she says.
Her passion for her work is evident when
she recounts her most memorable moment
at MIA. When you have been working in
the space with only the staff around you,
and then after the inauguration, to see lot
of people walking in, the excitement of
schoolchildren when they see the place and
the exhibits.It is a bitter-sweet experience,
she says. The grief of losing the sanctity
of the space spiced with the joy of sharing
this wonder with the world. It is almost like
losing your baby. But then I always remem-
ber the joy reflected on the childrens faces
when they visit MIA.
Al Khater has been working in the mu-
seum since 2007, long before the building
was inaugurated, and was made Director in
April 2011. Shadowing two great scholars of
Islamic art, the two earlier directors of the
museum, Dr Oliver Watson and Dr Sabiha
Al Khemir, during their work of cataloging
and curating at MIA was a great learning
experience for Al Khater. She is currently
studying for a masters degree but that in no
way slackens her work at the museum. She
is busy with the rebranding of MIA, and she
and her team have taken major strides in
defining who we (MIA) are, finding our way
and having a long-term vision for MIA.
Earlier, it was about the opening of the
museum, extravagant events and magnif-
icent objects. Now it is about reaching out
to the community and sharing the knowl-
edge, she says.
Al Khater is distinct about her priorities
and clear about the direction to be trodden,
My focus in the next five years is more on
the region and locally. We want to build the
trust of the people here. We want to share
the knowledge of our experts, make the
most of our expertise, she says.
MIA has gained international promi-
nence, too, Al Khater reminds us. We are
constantly bombarded with requests for
loans from our permanent collection from
major museums around the world.
For a museum that is barely five years old
that is indeed an achievement to be proud
about, and Al Khater feels that this shows
the commitment of the staff in building on
the presence of the museum.
We want to reach out to the communi-
ty virtually too. Information on the whole
collection will be available online, and that
will be a whole resource of information,
she says. MIA has seen consistent growth
over the past five years, with 2013 being
THE MUSEUM OF ISLAMIC ART (MIA) CUTSAN AUSTERE YET ABSOLUTELY
AESTHETICSILHOUETTEON THE DOHA SKYLINE.
THE I. M. PEI MASTERPIECE EVOKES AWE,BRINGING WITH IT A SENSE OF
REMOTENESSTOTHE BUILDING, SO MUCH SO THAT THE ARTEFACTSWITHIN ARE
REGARDEDIN THE SAME LIGHT, IF NOTWITHADDED REVERENCE.BY SINDHU
NAIR
MIA gets a colourful new logo
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Which is why she believes in the notion
that a museum is more of an educational
institution. A belief that holds true for the
MIA, with almost half of its space dedicat-
ed to education. And this is the reason whyAl Khater wants to
make the museum more
than a space to keep valuable historical
monuments but an educational tool that is
accessible to all.
We arent just a museum; we are a centre
of knowledge and inspiration, a place for lo-
cal community and an icon of the diversity
and depth of our culture. It is for this that
Al Khater is putting a lot of her time into a
programme or guide for different segments
of society to access and interpret the col-
lections, to make the MIA experience more
detailed to remain with you for a long dura-tion. This programme
will be delivered in
two years time, says Al Khater.
Who visits MIA
While MIA doesnt keep a record of the
demographic segmentation of visitors, Al
Khater says that there has been a high per-
centage of South Asian, Bahraini and Sau-
di visitors. Visitors come directly from
airports and through travel agencies and
we have a high percentage of VIP visitors.
Any high profile dignitary will surely come
to visit the MIA, she says adding, We will
need to get the demographics of visitors not
for anything but to find out which commu-
nities we are missing and find ways to entice
them to our museum.
She is not so much focused on the num-
ber of people coming to MIA as on the in-
trinsic value that each person takes away
from their museum visit. Al Khater also
notices that the Qatari visitors seem to have
increased which might imply a changing
mindset towards museum culture too.
Teaching the Teachers
MIA is handling the educational pro-
grammes quite intelligently by equipping
teachers with the tools to pass on their
knowledge to the students.
We also want to bring back the art of cal-
ligraphy. For this too we try to educate the
teachers on the process. Making the teach-
er confident to pass on what they learn to
the students, she says. MIA is also working
with universities, especially UCL and QU
on research. We had much bigger student
participation, visits from schools increased
this year, which is very encouraging.
Under the skies
The MIA Park has become a place where
people of all cultures congregate and en-
joy the beauty of the Doha Corniche, in the
shadows of MIA. The plan for MIA parkwas already in the Museum
master plan
according to Al Khater. And having a park
close to the museum is not new to museums
worldwide.
We can now entice people who do not
come to museums as such. We try and do
events that connect the MIA exhibitions
with the park activities. Like how we had a
kite-flying event that connected with the
Ferozkoh: Tradition and Continuity in Af-
ghan Art exhibition, as it was a tradition
followed by the Afghans, she says.
From Park Bazars to free concert by theQatar Philharmonic
Orchestra in the muse-
um atrium, to Jazz in the Park where MIA
partnered with Jazz at Lincoln Center Doha
for a series of free world-class jazz con-
certs, activities within MIA park have done
what many institutions dream of, bringing
communities together.
The year to come
The MIA will bring interesting new exhi-
bitions in 2014. Starting with an exhibition
on chess, the format of the new exhibitions
will include more educational programmes
to make the exhibit more interesting.
Al Khater has an idealistic dream for MIA
and what it can achieve. She imagines the
recreation of her favourite period in Islamic
history, the Islamic Golden Age, the Abbasid
period beginning in the mid-8th century
CE, an era when the Arab world became an
intellectual centre for science, philosophy,
medicine and education; an era when the
Abbasids championed the cause of knowl-
edge, where both Muslim and non-Muslim
scholars sought to translate and gather all
the worlds knowledge into Arabic.
During this period the Arab world was a
collection of cultures which put together,
synthesised and significantly advanced the
knowledge gained from the ancient Roman,
Chinese, Indian, Persian, Egyptian, Greek,
Byzantine and Phoenician civilisations.
A place where people come back, to
congregate, discuss, give us feedback about
what they saw at the exhibitions, communi-
cate, and tell us what they would like from
us... These are her dreams for MIA.
And given her passion, it might all be a
reality.
MIA YEARLY FIGURES
20122013
OVER
4600CHILDREN AND ADULTS HAVEPARTICIPATED IN MIA ACTIVITIES.
OVER
12,000VISITORS TAKEN ON GUI DED
TOURS OF THE MIA GALLERIESAND SPECIAL EXHIBITIONS.
OVER
4,900VISITORS TO THE LIBRARY.
OVER
14,500SCHOOL CHILDREN VISITEDMIA GALLERIES AND
EDUCATIONCENTRE.
