Art Mill Museum will house exceptional collections dating back from 1850, scheduled to open in 2030

The Art Mill Museum, scheduled to open in 2030, will house exceptional and international collections dating back from 1850 to present, bringing different cultures from all over the world.

The Art Mill Museum is an addition to the family of Qatar Museums. It will transform an industrial flour mill at the Old Doha Port along Corniche that currently houses the Qatar Flour Mills.

“This is the first time they are making an architecture that is not an architecture from scratch – but a utilisation of an existing building and heritage buildings that older people know very well. The idea of the project is to keep up with the architecture, and what is most important in the architecture is the silo, and develop this on the site in order to keep the DNA of the building,” said Art Mill Museum Director Catherine Grenier who also developed the concept of the museum.

Currently, an exhibition was opened this week called Qatar Flour Mills Warehouse: “From Flour to Art” that presents the vision of the museum, the architectural project and the signature garden.

Grenier explained to reporters that the upcoming museum will showcase diverse collections from every region. “This museum will be an international museum showing culture from all around the world, including the art and culture of the [Arab] region that will be shown in large context.”

The Art Mill Museum will offer visual art icons as well as architecture and design, films and film props, fashion, crafts, among others. Grenier who is also an art historian stressed the pioneering institution in the non-Western world is “very open on the concept of art and creation.”

She also revealed that next to the museum, there will be a Creative Village that will be built where people will be allowed to make art, listen to music, enjoy the theatre. “We want to make this place a public space for the people living in Qatar, plus all the foreigners, tourists, and expatriates.”

While the building is opening eight years from now, Greiner highlighted that they are also adapting to the new generation and they are working on it from now until 2030.

The placement of Art Mill Museum makes a “triangle of museums” that completes the cultural district – this comprises the Museum of Islamic Art, MIA Park, and the National Museum of Qatar. “When we open in 2030, there will be several museums next to each other […] and I think this is very strong,” said Grenier.

On Qatar being a Cultural Hub in the region, Greiner confidently said: “certainly, of course. When you have artists from all the countries to make works [here], it will certainly create a hub of artists and a hub of visitors.”

The Art Mill Museum will include multidisciplinary works from 19th century until today and represents the culmination of a 25-year culture plan for the country. 

The architectural and urban project is designed by ELEMENTAL, led by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Alejandro Aravena, and the garden is designed by VOGT Landscape Architects.