Qatar Museums (QM) has today unveiled an iconic carousel designed by renowned Iraqi artist Dia Azzawi at the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) park for visitors to enjoy and experience. This latest installation, titled ‘Enchanted East’, forms part of QM’s growing public art offering and will join the expanding collection of world-class public artworks on show by QM, designed to enrich the lives of those living in and visiting Qatar.

Under the patronage of its Chairperson, Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the unique carousel features 40 beautifully designed animal “seats” that are inspired by MIA’s iconic permanent collection. Dia Azzawi was also inspired by Islamic arabesque, Arabic calligraphy and famous carpets from Islamic civilization when creating this magnificent installation.

The carousel, which took five days in total to install, will now have a permanent home at MIA park, and is located between the children’s play area and the cafe.

Khalid Yousef Al Ibrahim, Consultant at Qatar Museums, said:

“At Qatar Museums, we continue to deliver our promise of creating cultural experiences outside of our museum walls for everyone to interact with and enjoy.“Dia Azzawi is a significant, leading artistic figure and also a long standing friend of Qatar Museums, and we are proud to exhibit his works in Qatar, to continue to inspire a culture of creativity and innovation and to create cultural experiences that involve the widest possible audiences.

“Art is all around us. With this iconic carousel now permanently housed at MIA park, everyone in Qatar can interact with art and culture as they go about their daily lives.”

The installation comes ahead of a major retrospective exhibition of the work of Dia Azzawi, which will open simultaneously in Qatar at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art and QM Gallery Al Riwaq in Doha, from 16 October 2016 – 16th April 2017.

Dia Azzawi is internationally recognised as one of the pioneers of modern Arab art. His exhibition, which showcases over 350 works across fifty years

and a range of media, aims to map an itinerary of modernism and profiles the practice of the Iraqi artist. The retrospective will be organised into two parts, with each one tracing a trajectory of the artist’s practice: one charting the relation between image and text in Azzawi’s work, and the other following the artist’s engagement with the key moments in the political history of modern Iraq and the Arab world.

The ‘Enchanted East’ carousel will be open during the following hours:

Ramadan Operations (Month of Ramadan)

Sunday – Saturday: 7pm - midnight

Tuesdays & Fridays: Closed

Summer Operations (July – September)

Sunday – Saturday: 6pm - midnight

Tuesdays: Closed

Normal Operations (October – May)

Sunday – Saturday: 10.30 - 23.00

Tuesdays: Closed

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