Modernity, Wahhabi Islam and Monarchial Power in Qatar
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
MODERNITY, WAHHABI ISLAM, AND MONARCHIAL POWER IN QATAR EXHIBITED IN ITS CONTEMPORARY ART ____________ A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of California State University Dominguez Hills ____________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in Humanities ____________ by Christine Crane Fall 2017 This thesis is dedicated to my husband, Mark, whose confidence in me and support made it possible. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge my mentor Dr. Patricia Gamon. I would also like to acknowledge the use of the library and graduate tutoring services at Utah Valley University, especially the help and support of Rebecca and Kelsey in the Writing Center. iii PREFACE Because of the laws in the Gulf that do not allow for criticism of any of the Gulf monarchy as well as Islam, in order to maintain their position at Qatari schools or even their research and travel privileges in the Gulf, authors ignore or soft-pedal any serious problems in the Gulf states; this must be taken into consideration when doing any research regarding this region. Another shortsightedness, I have also seen repeated in the scholarship of Qatar is a disregard for the belief in Wahhabi Islam, almost always reducing it to a “culture” or “tradition.” I examine art created and collected within a cultural context that includes the influence of Wahhabi Islam as religion. To this end, I have chosen to use the English word for Allah, which is of course God. My sources are entirely based on English-language sources. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE DEDICATION ......................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS....................................................................................................iii PREFACE ................................................................................................................................ iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................ v LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................... vii ABSTRACT ..........................................................................................................................viii CHAPTER 1. SCOPE OF STUDY, REVIEW OF LITERATURE AND METHODOLOGY .............. 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1 Parameters of the Study ............................................................................................... 2 Review of the Literature .............................................................................................. 4 Methodology .............................................................................................................. 11 2. HISTORY OF QATAR’S AL THANI MONARCHIAL DYNASTY AND WAHHABI ISLAM .......................................................................................................... 16 Marxism as applied to Qatar ..................................................................................... 17 Al Thani Power Consolidation.................................................................................. 20 Wahhabi Islam in Qatar ............................................................................................. 29 3. DEFINITIONS OF MODERNISM AND POSTMODERNISM .................................. 37 Western versus Qatari modernity ............................................................................. 37 Postmodernism and How Its Experienced in Qatar ................................................. 47 4. CULTURAL DIPLOMACY AND THE ROLE OF CONTEMPORARY ART IN THE AL THANI MONARCHY...................................................................................54 Cultural Diplomacy in Qatar ..................................................................................... 56 Understanding the Context of Arab Islamic Contemporary Art ............................. 59 Examples of Qatar’s Contemporary Arab-Islamic and Western Art...................... 69 5. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................. 91 v ENDNOTES ........................................................................................................................... 93 WORKS CITED ..................................................................................................................... 95 vi LIST OF FIGURES PAGE 1. Damian Hirst. The Miraculous Journey. 2013. Sidra Hospital. Doha………….63 2. Stengal, Rudolf. Untitled. 2016. Hamad International Airport. Doha………….71 3. Al-Azzawi, Dia. Flying Man. 2016? Hamad International Airport. Doha.…...72 4. Fischer, Urs.Lamp Bear. 2011. Hamad International Airport. Doha…………...73 5. Richard Serra. “7.” 2011. Museum of Islamic Art Park . Doha………………..75 6. Sabah Arbilli. Calligraphy. 2014. Corniche near MIA in. Doha……………….76 7. Adel Abdessemed. Coup de Tete. 2012. Corniche Public Art. Doha…………..78 8. Yousef Ahmad. Screams from Sarajevo 1995. Mathaf. Doha.. ….……….……81 9. Manal al-Dowayan. Suspended Together. 2011. Mathaf. Doha………………..82 10. Ali Hassan. The Letter “Noon.” 2000. Mathaf. Doha………………………..... 84 11. Faraj Daham. Invisible Workers, 2012? Mathaf, Qatar……………….……….. 86 12. Hatem El Mekki. Les Refugees. 1958. Private Collection………………….…...88 13. Shirin Neshat. Passage. 2001. Fisher Collection SFMOM…………………......89 vii ABSTRACT The small, Middle Eastern, emirate of Qatar is economically advanced and internationally respected. It is ruled by the hereditary Al Thani monarchy who promote modernist goals (nationalism, central authority, moral superiority) within a regional narrative ostensibly on behalf of its privileged and Wahhabi-Islam citizenry. The minority Qatari rely heavily on their majority expatriate labor force, who exist within a postmodern condition. This thesis argues that as part of its cultural diplomacy objectives, the Al Thani monarchy uses its wealth to promote contemporary art both to maintain its power, and as a signifier of its modernity, progress, and international position as a sophisticated yet Islamic monarchy in an international global market, where democracy and postmodern sensibilities are the norm. Abstract expressionism and calligraphy in contemporary art are common in art venues and appeals to Qataris for both its nonobjective forms as well as its Islamic philosophical and historic roots. 1 CHAPTER 1 SCOPE OF STUDY, REVIEW OF LITERATURE AND METHODOLOGY Introduction Qatar is a small but incredibly wealthy country in the Persian Gulf that has built a modern city, complete with incredible high-rises, gridlock traffic, air-conditioned malls and Western-satellite universities. Using wealth generated from massive natural gas reserves, Qatar has also invested substantially in art. It has two museums built by internationally famous architects. The Museum of Islamic Art, designed by world renowned architect, I.M.Pei (a postmodernist architect), displays Muslim and Middle Eastern artifacts from the seventh to the nineteenth century. Mathaf, or the Arab Museum of Modern Art, as former school building redesigned by Jean-Francois Bodin, displays contemporary Middle Eastern art most of which was created since the discovery of oil in the region. The investment in art includes public sculptures by renowned artists along the Corniche (a city center promenade), and in the international airport as well as a Sotheby’s auction house and several galleries. The availability of art to patrons would make one think that the traditionally- garbed Qataris are bohemian at heart; however, art in Qatar is more for appearances than as a typical Qatari statement of self-expression or even interest. For the Qatari, the issues surrounding differences between modernist and postmodernist art movements are of no particular concern. Art is perceived as a signifier of progress and modernity, regardless of style, whether it is realism, modernist, postmodernist, or an expensive commodity object in an art gallery show case for an international tourist. The country’s wealth is spent at 2 the discretion of the Al Thani monarchy who uses cultural diplomacy, of which art is a major part, to improve its international reputation as the only country that is both modern and Islamic in the Persian Gulf Region (consisting of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar) while at the same time appeasing local tribal Wahhabi sensibilities. Qatar is unusual in that it has an important position as an economically-advanced, conservative, Islamic monarchy working within the international world of economically advanced liberal democracies. This interdisciplinary humanities thesis uses history, philosophy, and art, in a discussion of how these complex goals present within Doha. Parameters of Study Qatar, whose capital and population center is Doha, is unique in that the minority Qatari population live in a bubble of modernity within a postmodern country. In terms of this thesis, modernity refers to the emergence of the condition of modernity out of the social, political and religious background of Qatar. Modernity, in this thesis is the social reality and economic development that is directed by the Al Thani monarchy, which is supported by Qatari citizens. The thesis will demonstrate how the modernist condition is expressed in the world of Qatari