SINCE the opening of The National Museum of Qatar (NMoQ) on 28 March, it has attracted 132,000 visitors in the first month. Residents and tourists have been taken up with the museum’s use of audio-visual presentations, digital exhibitions, historical artefacts and immersive, multisensory approach.
NMoQ Director Sheikha Amna bint Abdulaziz bin Jassim Al Thani said. “From the start, Qatar Museums (QM) and the National Museum team knew we wanted to create a living experience for our people – a museum with a heart. We have created galleries full of movement, sound and colour in order to engage our public fully, with their senses and emotions as well as their intellects, and have assembled creative and authentic content that is so rich that people will discover something new with each visit. It is now time for the discoveries to begin.”
An NMoQ statement noted it has hosted workshops, talks and presentations, many given by renowned artists. It recently held a `Visitor Studies; in museums and cultural institutions seminar, a first for Qatar. Speakers included Jo Hargreaves, director of Morris Hargreaves MacIntyre; Dr Alexandra Bounia, professor of Museum Studies at UCL Qatar and Dr Karen Exell, senior museum development specialist at NMoQ with the keynote address delivered by Professor John H Falk from the Institute for Learning Innovation, Oregon State University.
In the first of what will become a regular series of talks, NMoQ hosted ‘An Afternoon of Inspiration with Jeff Koons’. The interactive workshop allowed young artists to hear about his experiences as a young artist, share his perspective on issues that concern artists at the start of their careers and get tips on developing their personal styles.
Artists have guided participants through different techniques and media to create their own art pieces to take home. The museum hosted Girl Scouts of America Overseas for a tour and activities session, the start of the organisation’s specially designed summer programme of activities at the museum.
The NMoQ-designed summer programme will be linked to the themes and topics they are exploring (for example, sustainability) and support them in using NMoQ facilities to run their own exploratory programmes to collect badges. QM also developed ties with local schools through programmes, including the Teacher’s Council, and creative teaching materials. Since the museum’s opening, 18 schools visited NMOQ to discover its galleries and educational offerings.
NMOQ is planning a range of events and programmes to run across the summer, including launching ‘Activity Backpacks’, which children and families could pick up at reception to have access to themed activities related to the gallery they are visiting. In collaboration with the Friends of the Environment Centre (FoEC), NMoQ will be installing an insect breeding cage in the Natural Environments galleries for visitors to learn about and observe the lifecycle of insects, with FoEC specialists on hand to talk to visitors.
Working with Al Thuraya Planetarium (Katara), NMoQ will launch a programme of in-gallery expert talks and short films connected to celestial navigation and traditional practices.
Later this year, the museum will organise a week-long festival of family activities, including drama, film, art and food.