DOHA: Qatar unveiled Tuesday its landmark Museum of Islamic Art after an 18-month renovation ahead of the World Cup in a bid to be a “showcase” for the Arab world.
“We are the biggest Museum of Islamic Art in this region... and we are in the middle of the Arab world,” said museum director Julia Gonnella. “Where better can you learn about Islamic culture and art and history than here?“
The museum showcases 14 centuries of Islamic art and artefacts from around the world.
Constructed on a purpose-built island on Doha’s waterfront promenade, the building is the work of the late US architect I.M. Pei, one of the best-known architects of the 20th century.
The five-story building has redesigned its collections, with some two-thirds of the thousand exhibits new to the museum.
“Before it was only about the art, now it’s about culture,” Gonnella said. “We really want to tell the stories behind the masterpieces.”
Qatar has spent billions of dollars on new stadiums for the first football World Cup in an Arab country, which kicks off on November 20.
As the sporting festival approaches, Doha is leading an cultural push, including erecting dozens of works of public art, and opened the Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum earlier this year.
Qatar reopens Museum of Islamic Art ahead of World Cup
https://arab.news/2hd4m
Qatar reopens Museum of Islamic Art ahead of World Cup
- "We are the biggest Museum of Islamic Art in this region," said the museum director
- The museum showcases 14 centuries of Islamic art and artefacts from around the world
Kennedy Center Christmas Eve jazz concert canceled after Trump name added to building
- According to the White House, the president’s handpicked board approved the decision, which scholars have said violates the law
- Numerous artists have called off Kennedy Center performances since Trump returned to office, including Issa Rae and Peter Wolf
NEW YORK: A planned Christmas Eve jazz concert at the Kennedy Center, a holiday tradition dating back more than 20 years, has been canceled. The show’s host, musician Chuck Redd, says that he called off the performance in the wake of the White House announcing last week that President Donald Trump’s name would be added to the facility.
As of last Friday, the building’s facade reads The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. According to the White House, the president’s handpicked board approved the decision, which scholars have said violates the law. Trump had been suggesting for months he was open to changing the center’s name.
“When I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then hours later on the building, I chose to cancel our concert,” Redd told The Associated Press in an email Wednesday. Redd, a drummer and vibraphone player who has toured with everyone from Dizzy Gillespie to Ray Brown, has been presiding over holiday “Jazz Jams” at the Kennedy Center since 2006, succeeding bassist William “Keter” Betts.
The Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to email seeking comment. The center’s website lists the show as canceled.
President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, and Congress passed a law the following year naming the center as a living memorial to him. Kennedy niece Kerry Kennedy has vowed to remove Trump’s name from the building once he leaves office and former House historian Ray Smock is among those who say any changes would have to be approved by Congress.
The law explicitly prohibits the board of trustees from making the center into a memorial to anyone else, and from putting another person’s name on the building’s exterior.
Trump, a Republican, has been deeply involved with the center named for an iconic Democrat after mostly ignoring it during his first term. He has forced out its leadership, overhauled the board while arranging for himself to head it, and personally hosted this year’s Kennedy Center honors, breaking a long tradition of presidents mostly serving as spectators. The changes at the Kennedy Center are part of the president’s larger mission to fight “woke” culture at federal cultural institutions.
Numerous artists have called off Kennedy Center performances since Trump returned to office, including Issa Rae and Peter Wolf. Lin-Manuel Miranda canceled a planned production of “Hamilton.”
