ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the tensions implicit in Qatar’s investments in global art by focusing on the controversies that surrounded the display of three artworks: Abdessemed’s video Printemps and statue Coup de Tête and Hirst’s installation The Miraculous Journey. It also examines the forms that public acrimony toward those pieces took and, importantly, how the acrimony was managed and contained through “editing” these works out of Qatar’s cultural canvas. The chapter introduces the unique sociopolitical context of Qatar and its museum ecosystem. Qatar’s investments in contemporary global art have received some scholarly attention. A few commentators have addressed artworks by leading global artists. Nonetheless, Sheikha Al Mayassa has repeatedly presented Qatar’s state-led cultural initiatives – including those involving contemporary leading global artists – as a means to facilitate intercultural dialogue. Through commissions of iconic global art by leading international artists, Qatar’s ruling family is attempting to support the development of Qatari society through inviting ordinary Qataris.
