Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs H E Dr Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah being briefed by MIA Director Dr Julia Gonnella, the exhibition co-curator.
“Syria Matters,” an immersive exhibition featuring over 120 artefacts dating back as far as 9th century BCE, opened yesterday at Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) Special Exhibitions Gallery marking MIA’s 10th-year anniversary.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs H E Dr Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah was among the dignitaries who attended the launch of the exhibition which is open to the public until April 30.
“We chose to celebrate our anniversary with this exhibition as part of our commitment to safeguarding the rich culture that has been tragically lost in the civil war. Through this exhibition, MIA hopes to remind people why Syria “Matters” and why preserving its heritage and legacy should be of utmost importance,” said MIA Director Dr Julia Gonnella, the exhibition co-curator.
The exhibition sheds light on Syria’s rich architectural and cultural history with objects displayed dating back as far back as the country’s early pre-Islamic period up to its contributions to modern history.
Visitors to the exhibition are be taken on a journey through time and space featuring immersive and innovative digital renderings of Syria’s key heritage sites including Damascus, Aleppo and Palmyra, much of which was left in ruins because of the seven-year long civil war.
The artefacts are from MIA and other Qatar Museums institutions, notably the Orientalist Museum, as well as the Qatar National Library and the Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Museum.
International loans were secured from the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the Louvre in Paris, Berlin’s Museum of Ancient Near Eastern Art,the Berlin State Library, the British Library and the Türk ve Eserleri Müzesi in Istanbul.
MIA will also hold spectacular performances, lectures, workshops, family activities and book discussions in the next few months for people of all ages that aim to educate members of the public about Syria.
The first of these activities will be held tomorrow at 7pm in MIA’s Atrium, featuring renowned Syrian musician Kinan Azmeh and Syrian Armenian artist Kevork Mourad with
their performance titled Home Within.
This will be followed by a lecture entitled “Syria Matters” with Gonnella on November 27 at 6pm, followed by the first Syrian-themed book club discussing Syrian Folktales by Muna Imady on November 28 at 5pm.
On the sidelines of the exhibition, MIA Park is hosting its own version of the famous Souq Al Hamediya open from 2pm until 10pm every day until December 23.
