Louvre to display masterpieces from Doha museum

Doha: Masterpieces from the new Doha Museum of Islamic Art will be on display at the Louvre in France until the end of July, the Qatar News Agency said.

The exhibition under the theme "From Cordoba to Samarqand" was inaugurated by French President Jacques Chirac and Shaikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of Qatar, on Monday during his visit to France.

The inauguration of the exhibition, which has been jointly organised by the Louvre Art Museum and the Doha Museum of Islamic Art, was also attended by Shaikha Mouza Bint Nasser Al Misnad, Wife of the Emir, and the French First Lady Bernadette Chirac.

According to the Art Newspaper, the exhibition is a taster of what will be on view in Doha from the next year, as the country is set to open the new Museum of Islamic Art by the end of this year.

The museum designed by the Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei will display works from collections assembled mainly by Shaikh Saud Al Thani, cousin of the Emir and former chairman of the National Council for Culture, Arts and Heritage.

On display at the Louvre are 43 ceramics, works in metal, glass items, ivories, textiles and precious stones, dating from the 7th to 19th centuries, the Art Newspaper said.

These include an early 17th-century Iznik dish, a silver-plated 13th-century Iranian casket, an Indian emerald amulet (dated about 1695 AD), a 10th-century astrolabe and a 16th-century Ottoman imperial decree with the emblem of Sultan Sulaiman the Magnificent.

Curators Sabiha Al Khemir of the Doha Museum of Islamic Art and Francis Richard of the Louvre's Islamic department have organised the objects "according to their design, material and form rather than in a chronological or geographical arrangement", the Art Newspaper said.