A Stopover in Qatar: The Museum of Islamic Art

During my brief stay in Doha, I went to check out a few interesting places in town. Of course I went to the Souq Waqif, which was interesting given it's a relatively busy market. There were other souqs inter-connected with each other: I even saw the Falcon Souq, where they sell birds; and there's also this little street where all they sell are pets, including dogs, kept in cages. Anyway, I also strolled on the corniche, and eventually found myself in front of a I. M. Pei building, the Museum of Islamic Art.



This is the museum where I spent a few hours escaping from the heat. Yes, it was tolerable and not oppressive, but nevertheless when you're out the whole day, it's also nice to spend some time in an air-conditioned environment. And so I gazed at various interesting displays.

One thing that I was surprised of is the fact that there's quite a few exhibits featuring human forms. Islamic art tends to focus on geometric designs, since there seems to be the prohibition against crafting human images into art. Nevertheless, there were a few exceptions that this museum decided to showcase.

Entrance is free, and the collection is quite fantastic. I recommend it to anyone who has to spend some time in Doha.

My next post would be coming from Vietnam. After spending a night, it's time to move on. So I took the airport shuttle offered by the hotel, and checked in my bag. The next morning, I landed in Hanoi. Stay tuned for more.