A new museum of Islamic art has opened in Qatar

Doha - A new Islamic art museum was officially opened today in the capital of Qatar on an artificially created peninsula extending into the Persian Gulf. The operation of the museum, designed by the renowned Chinese-American architect Ieoh Ming Pei, was personally inaugurated by the Qatari emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. The public will be able to view the collections in the new building starting December 1st.
    According to the DPA, the new museum, with its exterior arrangement resembling something between a stepped pyramid in Egypt's Saqqara, a sandcastle, and a Moorish palace, will provide shelter for valuable collections of Islamic art from the 7th to 19th centuries.
    "The collection is not extensive compared to the Louvre or the Metropolitan Museum (in New York), but its quality is stunning," said Oliver Watson from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London to The Financial Times. A museum spokesperson in Doha stated that the institution has a total of 4,500 items in its storage, but only 850 will be on display at one time.
    Ninety-one-year-old architect Ieoh Ming Pei is among the leading figures in his field. He gained fame for bold additions to the Louvre Museum in Paris and the Bank of China building in Hong Kong. In 1983, he was awarded the Pritzker Prize, the most prestigious award an individual can receive in the field of architecture.