The Gulf state of Qatar is the world’s biggest buyer in the art market over the past six years. Last month, Sheikha Al Mayassa Bint Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani - the 27-year-old daughter of the Emir of Qatar and a driving force behind the country’s art buying - announced that Christie’s chairman, Edward Dolman, will join the board of trustees of the Qatar Museums Authority (QMA), which oversees museums and cultural initiatives in the country.
Dolman will be working on art acquisitions for the growing network of museums, which are directed by the art historian and former head of the Rhode Island School of Design, Roger Mandle. According to Dolman: “Qatar is looking to deliver a series of exciting cultural projects in time for the World Cup in 2022”. In the contemporary field, Qatar has already commissioned a major project from Richard Serra, is planning a Jeff Koons exhibition and funded the Takashi Murakami - exhibition in Versailles last year, which is due to be shown in Doha in 2012.
Image: Sheikha Al Mayassa
Source and photo courtesy: www.arttimes.co.za