Public Art, National Identity and Islam in the Gulf: A Study of the Miraculous Journey Exhibition and the National Museum of Qatar

The cultural productions in the Arabian Peninsula have become a subject of broad debate among the scholars and local public, specifically in discussing the relationship between the Western-style projects and the local and Islamic identities of the region. In Qatar, this represents a dimension of the broader challenge of balancing between modernization and traditions articulated in the Qatar National Vision 2030. The thesis aims to shed light on how public art and cultural production are tied to national identity, memory, and Islam in Qatar by exploring the scope of public art in Qatar and analyzing two case studies: The National Museum of Qatar, re-opened in March 2019, and The Miraculous Journey project by Damien Hirst, unveiled in October 2018. The thesis investigates how various actors engaged in these projects perceive the role of public art and cultural production in Qatar, and how Qataris engage with the work of national and international artists sponsored by the state. The two case studies gave rise to important societal debates in the country and offer contrasting perspectives on the relationship between local cultural production and globalized art. This study has revealed that Qatari reactions to cultural production organized by the state takes different forms depending on several factors, including the nature of the art form, the costs of the project, the involvement of local actors, and the artwork's relation to Qatari cultural traditions. These discussions show the extent to which the media – in particular twitter – serve as a vehicle for the expression of public sentiment and for the articulation of social and political criticism in Qatar. The contrasting responses that Qataris provide to both projects demonstrate the need to examine in detail the nature of the project as well as the reasons and normative framework informing public debate and aesthetic value judgements. While the nation and the need for a unified national identity is accepted throughout Qatar, the conception of art as a transgressive endeavor is much more contested.