Mathaf - Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar

Mathaf – Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha

18 December 2025

Architects: Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture

Location: Doha, Qatar

Images: Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture

Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, the world’s leading institution for modern and contemporary art from the Arab world, announced that a major campus expansion is under way, led by the celebrated Lebanese-born architect Lina Ghotmeh, founder and principal of the Paris-based studio Lina Ghotmeh – Architecture, the architect behind the future Qatar Pavilion in the Giardini of La Biennale di Venezia.

Arab Museum of Modern Art, Qatar

Timed to coincide with Mathaf’s 15th anniversary, the phased expansion was inaugurated on 16 December with the opening of a newly created, majlis-inspired library and conversation space dedicated to art publications from the region, built around a set of flexible, building-block-like furniture units that can be reconfigured to meet different needs. In the years ahead, what is today the Museum’s parking lot and plaza will be redesigned into studio facilities for artists and designers working in ceramics, glass, sound, and textiles.

These developments highlight Mathaf’s position as the world’s leading centre for displaying and researching Arab modernism and mark the beginning of a new era for the institution, where it will become a place for creating and developing new art and ideas.

Zeina Arida, Director of Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, said, “We are extremely proud to mark our 15th anniversary by inaugurating a new chapter in the Museum’s history. By expanding Mathaf’s programmes and spaces to include residency studios, makerspaces, and workshops for ceramics and glassmaking, as well as a unique sound residency programme, we are transforming the Museum into a place where artists can also create. This significant development will enhance visitor experience, strengthen community engagement and reinforce Qatar’s investment in developing infrastructure for its growing creative economy.”

Lina Ghotmeh, founder and principal of the Paris-based studio said, “It is my honour to accept this remarkable commission and to have the opportunity to create new spaces for Mathaf and transform its architecture. The Arab Museum of Modern Art is a rightly cherished and unrivalled institution that will evolve into an active Museum of making and learning, in addition to exhibiting and displaying. Alongside the future Qatar Pavilion in the Giardini of La Biennale di Venezia, this expansion will offer the world a remarkable space for the presentation of art and ideas, especially by artists from our part of the world.”

The first phase of the expansion, already completed, reconfigures the Museum’s ground floor into an open-plan library that offers visitors the opportunity to browse Mathaf and Qatar Museums publications, as well as an extensive selection of art books. It also functions as a community hub, hosting a wide range of events, workshops, and talks. The Majlis is complemented by an expanded book and gift shop, which is operated by QC+, as well as a café offering casual dining.

The redesigned atrium features a newly commissioned portrait of His Highness The Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani by world-renowned Chinese painter Yan Pei-Ming. The painting will join portraits of The Father Amir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, and Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, which were commissioned for the opening of Mathaf in 2015.

Later phases of the expansion will establish a unified Museum campus by transforming existing warehouses into specialised studio facilities developed for the functional programming in collaboration with established artists acting as advisors. Those will include:

• A state-of-the-art ceramics studio, developed in consultation with the ceramicist Adrian Müller, equipped with specialised kilns and shared dry and wet studio spaces, enabling ceramicists to produce large-scale works;

• A makerspace devoted to glassmaking developed with artist Matteo Gonet, woodworking, and materials experimentation; and

• A sound studio equipped with state-of-the-art facilities developed with Tarek Atoui

These spaces will form the core of a new residency programme. The ceramics studio will provide space for ceramicists to create large-scale artworks, host open studios, and conduct public workshops. Beginning 17 December, sound artist Tarek Atoui will present an exhibition foreshadowing future residencies for artists working with sound.

The entire campus will be unified by a new curtain-like architectural skin, bringing coherence to its volumes, while a new earthen ground plane will connect the site through a landscape designed to respond to the regional climate.

Anniversary Programming
Marking Mathaf’s 15th anniversary and the opening of the first phase of the expansion are programmes that speak to the Museum’s vision for the future:

Waters’ Witness (17 December 2025 – 18 May 2026), an ongoing sound research project focused on water by Franco-Lebanese artist and electroacoustic composer Tarek Atoui. In an installation composed of marble, metal, ceramics, and other materials, Atoui will present a soundscape that documents the human, ecological, historical, and industrial histories of various coastal cities—Athens, Abu Dhabi, Beirut, Istanbul, Porto, Singapore, Sydney and now Doha—whose economic and social lives are closely tied to their ports.

Created from recordings conducted by Atoui and his collaborators, Eric La Casa and Chris Watson, the work was accompanied by a public performance marking Mathaf’s anniversary, on 16 December, with musician Mazen Kerbage and singer Lynn Adib. The exhibition will evolve in an active public program in collaboration with different groups and communities, including the future Dadu, Children’s Museum of Qatar, and VCU-Q, special needs communities, schools and the general public.

Autorretrato (17 December 2025 – 21 February 2026), a large-scale sculptural self-portrait by Argentinian artist Gabriel Chaile. The installation, presented in collaboration with Qatar Museums’ Public Art team and part of Qatar-Argentina and Chile 2025 Year of Culture, will offer a preview of the Museum’s future focus on ceramic art.

Mathaf Encyclopedia Website – The introduction of the updated Mathaf Encyclopedia of Modern Art and the Arab World website, which expanded its platform with:

o 70 Artist Biographies
o 30 Author Biographies
o 5 Scholarly Essays

Further anniversary programming features the ongoing exhibition Resolutions: Celebrating 15 Years of Mathaf, a reinstallation of the Museum’s unsurpassed permanent collection that is curated by Mathaf’s research and curatorial team and is on view until 8 August 2026. Also on view until 9 February 2026 is we refuse_d, a group exhibition that brings together fifteen artists whose practices examine resilience, action, and the ways individuals and communities respond to today’s political and social realities.

This year Qatar Museums celebrates Evolution Nation, a campaign honouring Qatar’s cultural journey over the past 50 years, since the founding of the National Museum of Qatar. Curated by Qatar Creates, the national movement positioning Qatar as a global hub for art, culture, and creativity, Evolution Nation highlights both the nation’s cultural milestones and its aspirations for the future.

Architects: Lina Ghotmeh – https://www.linaghotmeh.com/en/

Renders: Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture

Mathaf – Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar images / information received 181225

Location: Doha, Qatar.