Qatar Museums (QM) and Hamad International Airport (HIA) joined hands to launch a series of exclusive guided tours of iconic artworks by local and international artists displayed at HIA, available to Qatar Museum’s Culture Pass members. The first guided tour took place on Tuesday 28 November 2017 and was fully booked within 24 hours of the opening of the registrations earlier this month.
The tours, which are offered exclusively to Culture Pass members, will run on a monthly basis for up to 50 participants throughout the year. Culture Pass members can sign up for the tours on QM’s website.
This initiative follows the successful tours that QM organised earlier this year, which had hundreds of Culture Pass members sign up to visit the much anticipated National Museum of Qatar.
During the tour, QM experts walked the attendees through the impressive art collection, offering a unique perspective on the artworks and artists by telling each piece’s individual story.
QM has worked with local, regional and international artists for many years to commission and acquire artworks for key locations in and around HIA as part of its mission to create easily accessible cultural experiences for all those who live in and visit Qatar. Artworks on show at the HIA comprise a mix of site-specific creations and pieces which have been carefully selected for the airport.
HIA features several artworks from local and international artists, including: a piece by Qatari artist Ali Hassan, who has produced an iconic desert horse sculpture, which lives just outside of the airport building; as well as local artists, Salman Al Malik, Mubarak Al Malik, and Amal Al Rabban.
In addition, Lamp Bear by Swiss artist Urs Fischer takes centre stage in the grand foyer leading to HIA’s world-class duty-free hall. A herd of Oryx statues by Dutch artist Tom Claassen welcomes travellers at arrivals hall, while American sculptor Tom Otterness has offered a unique take on the Playground through a series of installations around the airport.
Other featured international artists include Adel Abdessemed, Dia Al Azzawi, Ahmed Al Bahrani, Maurizio Cattelan, Keith Haring, Damien Hirst, Jenny Holzer, Marc Quinn, Anselm Reyle, Rudolf Stingel and Bill Viola.
QM’s Culture Pass programme offers nearly 20,000 members unique access to diverse cultural activities across Qatar. Members receive a vast range of benefits from QM and its partners, including access to workshops that develop creative skills and explore exhibition-related themes; dedicated newsletters with the latest activities taking place in Qatar and abroad; invitations to attend exclusive exhibition openings; private tours of galleries and discounts of up to 15 – 25% at QM cafes, gift shops and selected sites.
To sign up for QM’s Culture Pass Programme: http://www.qm.org.qa/en/culturepass
To sign up for the HIA public art tour email: [email protected]