Qatar Museums (QM) has unveiled two new exhibitions at the Fahad Bin Ali Palace in Doha, set to run from October 26 through May 29, 2027. The shows—“Wooden Doors of Qatar: From Storage to Stories” and “Atharna 2026: Life and Death in Pre-Islamic Qatar”—aim to highlight aspects of Qatar’s architectural and archaeological heritage.
The palace, constructed between 1952 and 1963 near the Amiri Diwan, is opening to the public for the first time as a major exhibition venue. Its entrance exemplifies the Doha Deco architectural style, offering visitors a historic backdrop for the displays.
“Wooden Doors of Qatar” features 52 doors from the National Museum of Qatar’s (NMoQ) National Collection of Historic Doors, along with an additional door loaned by the Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani Museum. The exhibition explores the role of these wooden doors in shaping domestic and social life in Qatar, reflecting identity, protecting privacy, and adapting to the local climate. The display occupies the palace’s courtyard and surrounding galleries and includes an immersive installation modeled on a traditional Qatari home. It also offers insights into the conservation process, detailing how the doors were documented, cleaned, stabilized, and mounted in protective frames.
Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Hamad al-Thani, director of NMoQ, described the doors as a significant record of Qatar’s architectural and social history, emphasizing the importance of community contributions to enrich these narratives for future generations. Ajmal Maiwandi, director of Aga Khan Cultural Services for Afghanistan and Qatar, highlighted the exhibition’s role in sustaining craftsmanship and fostering intergenerational knowledge transmission, framing heritage conservation as a broader cultural dialogue.
The second exhibition, “Atharna 2026,” is the Archaeology Department’s annual pop-up that showcases recent excavations and research related to Qatar’s prehistoric and pre-Islamic periods. Visitors begin their experience with a reconstructed burial mound and an archaeologist’s tent, which introduces themes such as bioarchaeology, conservation, and material analysis. The exhibition then leads into a gallery displaying artifacts including jewelry and weapons excavated from pre-Islamic graves across Qatar.
Faisal Abdulla al-Naimi, director of QM’s Archaeology Department, noted that “Atharna 2026” provides an immersive look into the processes of excavation, documentation, and scientific research, carried out in collaboration with institutions like Sidra Medicine. He emphasized the exhibition’s ability to reconnect artifacts, people, and stories through ongoing scientific study, highlighting the commitment to public engagement and the preservation of Qatar’s archaeological heritage.
Together, these exhibitions offer visitors an opportunity to explore Qatar’s cultural and historical legacy, fostering greater public understanding and appreciation of its rich architectural and archaeological heritage.