H E Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chairperson of Qatar Museums (QM), yesterday announced that QM will inaugurate a new five-storey, 29,000sqm facility known as M7, dedicated to innovation and entrepreneurship in the nation’s growing fashion and design industry, as part of the annual #QatarCreates celebration.
Located in the heart of Msheireb Downtown Doha, the mixed-use development that is reviving Doha’s historic core as a sustainable new live-work neighbourhood and developed by Qatar Foundation (QF), M7 is founded to advance the careers of Qataris in creative industries, especially design and fashion; train aspiring entrepreneurs in creative fields; spark creativity in people of all ages and backgrounds through exhibitions, performances, films, educational programs, and public discussions; and help connect Qatar’s innovators with the world.
The name M7 acknowledges the seven goals that guided the creation of this new creative resource: accelerate (support the development of the country’s design community), connect (link creative people and industry), inspire (spark excitement through exhibitions), complement (provide material support to designers), equip (provide training, infrastructure, and mentoring), promote (put design at the center of life in Msheireb Downtown Doha), and empower (promote sustainable business practices).
Envisioned to serve Qatar’s emerging creative industries, M7 is positioned as the cultural, educational, and entrepreneurial centerpiece of Msheireb Downtown Doha. M7 will feature training, workshop, and incubator spaces.
M7 will inaugurate its ground-floor gallery with the special exhibition Azzedine Alaïa “Je suis couturier”, a tribute to the achievements of the renowned Tunisian-born French designer Azzedine Alaïa (1935-2017).
Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chairperson of Qatar Museums, said, “Because the future of Qatar depends on cultivating the creative potential of all its citizens, Qatar Museums has developed M7 to raise public awareness of the vast influence of fashion and design as an industry and to provide much-needed support for Qatar’s own burgeoning creative sector, from concept design to the production line. We are grateful to Qatar Foundation, headed by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, its Chairperson, for initiating the Msheireb Downtown Doha project, for our M7 partners Virginia Commonwealth University Qatar and Qatar Development Bank and of course, the contributions of the private sector.”
Scheduled from March 24 to 27, #QatarCreates will include the presentation of the second annual Fashion Trust Arabia Prize and a benefit gala and fashion show hosted by Naomi Campbell at M7 and Msheireb’s central square, the Baraha, in support of Fashion for Relief and Education Above All.
The four-day event will also witness the debut in Msheireb of a suite of townhouses created by design legends including Diane von Furstenberg, Armani Casa, and India Mahdavi, the opportunity for members of the public to book appointments with world-renowned beauty artists such as Dr. Barbara Sturm at the Park Hyatt Hotel and Dr. Georgia Louise at the Mandarin Oriental, and the Qatar Africa Business Forum at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.
In addition, the event will see the opening of six major Qatar Museums exhibitions including “A Falcon’s Eye: Tribute to Sheikh Saoud Al Thani” at the Museum of Islamic Art open to the public March 25 to January 2; “Splendours of the Ancient East: Antiquities from the Al Sabah Collection” at the National Museum of Qatar open to the public March 26 to July 1; “Yto Barrada: My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nougat; “Huguette Caland: Faces and Places;” and “Lived Forward: Art and Culture in Doha from 1960-2020” at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art open to the public March 25 to August 26; and Picasso’s Studios at Doha Fire Station open to the public March 15 to July 1.
There will also be a series of cultural tours as well as fashion talks and panel discussions.