The FIFA World Cup 2022 is taking place in Qatar, and ahead of the upcoming football event, Qatar Museums has announced the installation of an expansive public art program that will extend across the country, not just in the capital city of Doha. Qatar’s public spaces including parks, shopping zones, rail stations, hotel plazas, cultural institutions, Hamad International Airport and the eight World Cup 2022 stadiums are set to be reimagined into a “vast outdoor art museum.” There will be 40 new pieces being added to the existing 70 across the country.
“The addition of 40 new, major works of public art this fall is a significant milestone for Qatar’s public art program. Public art is one of our most prominent demonstrations of cultural exchange, where we present works from artists of all nationalities and backgrounds. From the arrivals at the best airport in the world — Hamad International Airport — to every neighborhood in our nation, public art is there to make your experience unique,” said Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, chairperson of Qatar Museums in a public statement.
The public art will include over 100 artworks and 40 new and commissioned works, including pieces by regional artists Adel Abidin, Ahmed Al-Bahrani, Shouq Al-Mana, Shua’a Al-Muftah, Salman Al-Malek, Monira Al-Qadiri, Simone Fattal and Faraj Daham. International artists whose works will be exhibited in the art program include, Olafur Eliasson, Jeff Koons, Yayoi Kusama, KAWS, Rashid Johnson, Ernesto Neto, Lawrence Weiner, Faye Toogood, Katharina Fritsch, among others.
Qatar happens to be among the first in the GCC to establish a public art program that includes works by the likes of Richard Serra, Tom Claaseen, Bruce Nauman, Louise Bourgeois, Urs Fischer, Subodh Gupta, Dia Al-Azzawi and others at this moment in time.
Abdulrahman Ahmed Al-Ishaq, Qatar Museums’ Director of Public Art, stated, “Qatar Museums’ public art program, more than anything else, serves as a reminder that art is all around us, not confined to museums and galleries, and can be enjoyed and celebrated whether you are going to work, or school, or the desert or the beach.”
The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 kicks off 21st November 2022.
