Doha: Qatar Museums celebrates the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris with exciting exhibitions and public events from July 24. 

Anchored by two exhibitions curated by Qatar Museums and 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum, the programme also includes Jiwan taking over Le Dalí at Le Meurice hotel as well as the launch of the first-ever Arabic translation of writings, “Textes Choisis”, by Pierre de Coubertin, the French historian and visionary widely regarded as the father of the modern Olympic games. 

Qatar Museums’ summer programme reaffirms close ties between Qatar and France and establishes new links based on a shared love of sport. The programme is organised as a legacy of Qatar-France 2020 Year of Culture, a year-long programme of collaborations between institutions across both countries. In 2014, State of Qatar and the French Republic signed a significant Cultural Agreement. 

Chairperson of Qatar Museums HE Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad Al Thani said, “For more than a decade, we have worked closely with our colleagues in France to present the greatest riches of our respective cultures in Paris, Doha and beyond. This latest program of events reconfirms our joint commitment to sharing our interests, values, and ideals. As we look to the Summer 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, this slate of programs celebrates the power of sport to bring together cultures and serve as a bridge between nations.”

Exhibition: Esports | A Game Changer
July 24 – September 8, 2024
10am to 6pm; Free
Résidence Cîteaux: 45, Boulevard Diderot

Organized by Qatar Museums and 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum, the first-of-its-kind exhibition explores the evolution of competitive gaming from its niche origins to a thriving cultural economy that supports mainstream megaevents. 

Esports takes a sociological look at competitive gaming, defining it in relation to traditional sports and casual gaming, while looking at its governing organizations and economies. It also includes a history of esports, stretching back to the invention of the first electronic pinball machine a century ago, and presents snapshots of some of competitive gaming’s biggest contemporary stars. 

The final part of the show looks at the future of esports in the gaming landscape and beyond, focusing on its societal, educational, recreational, and occupational implications. The exhibition will be on view in Doha, Qatar in 2025.

The exhibition is curated by Dr. Christian Wacker, Deputy Director of Exhibitions, Qatar Museums, along with esports industry leaders Benjamin Buchtala and Jannik Rädisch with support of Abdulla Yousef Al Mulla, Director 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum; and Aalia Khalid Al-Khater, Head of Exhibitions, 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum. Esports | A Game Changer is organized as a legacy of Qatar-France 2020 Year of Culture.

Exhibition: Olympism: More Than a Dream
July 31 – August 25, 2024
10am to 6pm; Free
Le Royal Monceau – Raffles Paris

As part of Qatar’s contribution to Paris 2024, 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum is staging an exhibition in France’s capital city from July 31 to August 25 at Le Royal Monceau – Raffles Paris Hotel. The exhibition, titled Olympism: More than a Dream, records 40 years of Qatar’s participation in the Olympics since 1984. 

In the elegant surroundings of the Raffles art gallery, the exhibition is divided into 3 parts: 

    • The first part is a tribute to Pierre de Coubertin, Founder of the Modern Olympics, and celebrates Qatar’s gift of the first translation of Coubertin’s Selected Writings into Arabic for the first time. The exhibition features iconic Olympic objects from the Museum’s collection, from Muhammad Ali’s left boxing glove from Rome 1960, hand-inscribed by the most charismatic of athletes, detailing his victories, to a rare Innsbruck 1964 Olympic torch used on the first occasion that the Olympic flame for a Winter Games was lit in Olympia, Greece birthplace of the Ancient Olympic Games.

    • The second part highlights key milestones in Qatar’s progress as an Olympic nation, from its first participation at Los Angeles 1984 to Tokyo 2020.  Foregrounding Qatar’s continuous involvement in each subsequent Summer Olympic Games and Paralympics—featuring milestone moments, memorabilia and medals from Qatar’s first medal in 1992 to one of the two Tokyo 2020 Golds—the exhibition shines a light on how the Olympic values of excellence, respect and friendship have been articulated in Qatar and across the MENA region. 

On display is the bronze won by Qatar athlete Mohammed Suleiman in the 1500m at Barcelona, the first medal in the history of the Olympic Games to be won by a Gulf Country.  The gold medal won by the ‘Qatari Falcon’ Mutaz Barshim at Tokyo 2020 is one of the highlights of the exhibition. In the high jump final, Qatar’s Barshim and Italy’s Tamberi both cleared a height of 2.37m but did not progress.  

In one of the most heart-warming moments in Olympic history, Barshim then made history by suggesting that the pair share the gold. This rare instance of athletes of different nations agreeing to share the same medal is a shining example of Olympic values of Excellence, Respect and Friendship.

    • The third and final part explores Qatar’s emergence as a global sporting leader and host, and its aspirations to host the Olympic Games in the future. Building on its long and successful track record as international sport host, Qatar now wishes to progress its Olympic dream. 

The exhibition is curated by Susan Hayward FMA, Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs at 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic & Sports Museum and led by Museum’s Director, Abdulla Al Mulla, and the 3-2-1 team in partnership with the Coubertin Family Association and Qatar Olympic Committee. 

Book Launch: the Arabic translation of “Textes Choisis” by Baron Pierre De Coubertin, hosted by Qatar Olympic Committee
QR360 / €90 
In-Q’s website and Qatar Museums’ gift shops

Just after the opening of the exhibition, as a part of Team Qatar Reception by Qatar Olympic Committee held in Paris during the Games, Qatar Museums will for the first time present Pierre De Coubertin: Textes Choisis, Volume 1, the first translation from French into Arabic of selected writings by Pierre de Coubertin, the father of the modern Olympic Games. 

The book will become available to public through In-Q’s website and Qatar Museums’ gift shops. The publication, which draws on his voluminous archive of writings (totaling some 500,000 words) collects some of Coubertin’s most important essays on the power of sport to bring people together. With the Summer Olympic Games opening in Paris, it serves as an introduction to Arabic-reading audiences of the values that undergird the modern Olympic movement. 

Jiwan Brings Distinctively Doha Flavours to Paris

Jiwan, the flagship restaurant of the National Museum of Qatar, will take over Le Dalí at Le Meurice hotel in Paris from 29 July to 4 August with a unique menu highlighting the vibrant flavours and rich heritage of Doha.

As the world gathers in Paris, Jiwan invites guests to experience its Distinctively Doha cuisine inspired by Middle Eastern flavours and regional culinary traditions. This collaboration embodies the spirit of multiculturalism central to Jiwan’s ethos, blending local traditions with a global perspective.

Le Meurice, known as the ‘hotel of artists and thinkers,’ provides the ideal setting for this cultural and culinary exchange. The Jiwan takeover promises a dining experience merging elegant Parisian aesthetic with Doha’s rich traditions. Diners will enjoy modern takes on Middle Eastern classics and exquisite desserts crafted by renowned pastry chef, Cedric Grolet.

Cover images: Qatar Museums / AFP