Kholood Al Fahad, Acting Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs at Lusail Museum (second from left) at the Orientalism Demystified: Eastern Insights on Western Myths talk
Doha, Qatar: In a recent talk titled “Orientalism Demystified: Eastern Insights on Western Myths,” an official emphasised that the Lusail Museum is poised to be “a local museum with an international voice.”
Kholood Al Fahad, Acting Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs at Lusail Museum, expressed that the event aligns with the museum’s mission, stating: “This is a good opportunity which goes in line with the mission of the Lusail Museum, to have a local museum with an international voice, to change the way people perceive each other and understand each other.”
Reflecting on the conversation, Al Fahad noted: “As a curator at the Lusail Musem, what makes me interested is the conversation today is the reaction I received from the audience and looking at those works of art, of the 19th century Orientalist artist and their views on how it affects them today, and the way the people are looking at them today.”
The town hall-style discussion was a collaboration between Doha Debates, Lusail Museum, and Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts Qatar. It discussed into how Orientalist art has influenced Western perspectives of Arab and Asian identities, examining how these 19th-century stereotypes persist in today’s media and cultural narratives. The conversation also explored how museums should present and analyse Orientalist works in their collections.
The upcoming Lusail Museum is set to house the world’s largest collection of Orientalist paintings. “It is this extraordinary collection that, as early as 2006, inspired the new museum project and remains the inspiration for the museum’s vision and narrative,” said Qatar Museums on its website.
In a recent interview, Lusail Museum Director, Dr. Xavier Dectot, outlined the museum’s purpose, emphasising its role as a space for ideas, meetings, exchanges, and identity. Dr. Dectot highlighted the museum’s global art collection, stating it “centers on meetings, inter-connectedness, and cultural exchanges.”
Designed by Pritzker Prize–winning architects Herzog & de Meuron, the construction of the Lusail Museum is underway in Lusail.
