Yesterday evening was the first training session for the newly appointed Honorary Cultural Ambassadors, which I was lucky enough to have been selected for. Training took place in the cinema of the Fire Station Art Gallery and lasted for 3 hours.
There were four presentations covering the Museum of Islamic Art, the soon to open Qatar National Museum, the Fire Station and lastly the Olympic and Sports Museum due to open in 2019.
There was a lot to take in, and I started taking notes too late. But here are a couple of things I didn’t know and found interesting.
- The architect of the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) insisted that the building should be where it is, because he didn’t want it in a location where there was any risk of any new development ever overshadowing this amazing building. And because water has a calming effect for museums, galleries and such like.
- The Qatar National Museum will open in 2018.
- The Fire Station Artist in Residence Program had over 170 applicants this year. But the judges panel of 5 experts had to select only 20 artists. Each successful artist was given one of the 20 studios located in the Fire Station, financial assistance for materials and also mentoring. Old unused school buildings around Qatar are to be converted into studios to allow more artists to expand and develop their skills.
- The Olympic and Sports Museum is under development at The new Khalifa International Stadium located in Aspire, and will open in 2019.
Honestly there was a lot of information, and I hope to be able to tell you more about each of the 4 museums in the coming weeks as I get more hands on with them. Starting with the Fire Station, which we are visiting tomorrow to have a tour of the current exhibition showing there.
