One of the key institutions in the region fully dedicated to modern and contemporary art from the Arab world. The museum holds one of the largest collections of its kind and maintains a strong research focus. It is built on the collection of Sheikh Hassan bin Mohammed bin Ali Al Thani. Housed in a former school building, it subtly connects its educational role with its research function. The name Mathaf simply means “museum” in Arabic, but here it becomes something more specific: a collection of over nine thousand works spanning more than a century of Arab art. Much of what shapes Doha’s cultural scene today can be traced back to one figure — Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad, chair of Qatar Museums. ArtReview has twice named her the most powerful person in the contemporary art world, while Bloomberg once estimated her annual art acquisition budget at around one billion dollars. She has consistently resisted the model of satellite branches of Western museums adopted by other Gulf states, instead focusing on building a local cultural ecosystem. Mathaf, the Museum of Islamic Art, the National Museum of Qatar, Fire Station, and the large-scale public art program are all part of a long-term vision she has been shaping since 2006.

Inside the convention centre you can find Maman, one of Louise Bourgeois’s most iconic works, where the spider becomes a symbol of motherhood, strength, and protection. Nearby, at Sidra Medicine, stands The Miraculous Journey by Damien Hirst — a series of fourteen sculptures tracing the stages of human development before birth. This is the largest permanent installation of the series in the world, with the tallest figure reaching fourteen meters. When unveiled in 2013, the work sparked widespread debate — a reminder of how seriously public art is taken in this city.