Qatar museum director sees International Cultural Summit in Hong Kong as a chance to learn from the city and tell the world what Doha is doing

The Gulf state of Qatar has built a design district and is creating a cultural district, and Shaika Nasser Al-Nassr is keen to learn from Hong Kong’s arts hub

The director of Qatar’s Museum of Islamic Art, she sees summit of 1,000 arts and culture movers and shakers as a chance to raise awareness of Doha’s progress

Reading Time:2 minutes

The spiral staircase in the atrium of the Museum of Islamic Art Doha, in Qatar, designed by Chinese architect I.M. Pei. The museum’s director will use the International Cultural Summit in Hong Kong to learn from the host city and spread the word about what’s going on in Doha. Photo: courtesy of the Museum of Islamic Art

Published: 12:45pm, 19 Mar 2024Updated: 2:26pm, 19 Mar 2024

With 6,000 kilometres separating Hong Kong and the Qatari capital, Doha, it may seem at first glance that the cities have nothing much in common. On closer examination, however, both have built cultural districts to stake a claim to being a regional hub of arts and culture.

“We have already developed a Design District in an historic area of downtown Doha,” says Shaika Nasser Al-Nassr, director of the Museum of Islamic Art Doha.

“The entire neighbourhood, Msheireb, has been transformed into a highly sustainable, mixed-use development that merges contemporary ideas and functions with traditional design principles.”

The government will be adding more cultural districts and museums in Doha in the future, she adds.

Shaika Nasser Al-Nassr, the director of the Museum of Islamic Art Doha in Qatar. Photo: Courtesy of the Museum of Islamic Art.

Al-Nassr will be among the global movers and shakers from the spheres of arts and culture attending the March 24-26 International Cultural Summit that is being held in Hong Kong for the first time as part of “Art March” in the city.