The sweeping roll of the dunes and unending swathes of sand in Qatar are alluring enough but throw in some striking sculptures and you really do create a stir.

Art in the desert in Qatar is the real deal.

Public art is impressive throughout the city of Doha and its surrounds (there are more than 100 installed pieces), yet in the midst of a desolate landscape viewing such installations can be a magical experience.

Mysterious too, as we discovered.

All you need is a GPS system, drinking water and a sense of adventure (and preferably a sense of humour, too!)

Within reach

Fortunately, Qatar is small enough to track down these world-class installations in a day. But, if time allows, spread out your self-drive trips to visit and absorb each artwork individually.

They’re to be savoured, not rushed.

(As an aside, as I write, I am chuckling. I need to remind myself that as recently as two years ago, I rarely contemplated art and its merits. Living in Qatar has changed that. Art gets us thinking, talking … and pushes us out of our comfort zone).

Both Olafur Eliasson’s Shadows Travelling on the Sea of the Day and Richard Serra’s East-West/West-East sculptures are about an hour’s drive from Doha but in different places, so a round trip will probably take you about four to six hours.

As for Curious Deserts, well, that’s another story, as you will discover …  

Oh, and did I mention that these installations are free for all to see. There is no entrance fee. Of course, you can join a tour company and learn first-hand from the qualified guides …

Or brave the arid art adventure on your ownsome.

Best time to visit art in the desert

Winter (November to February) is the best time to visit these artworks because the weather is mild and sunny.

If you go a few months either side of the winter season you will be okay too, but wear sunscreen and have water on hand. It gets very hot in Qatar.

Sunset is probably the nicest time of the day to visit but our trips have always been mid-morning or around lunch-time and have also been lovely.

The roads to these installations are mainly hardened sand tracks and not necessarily easy to follow. We saw at least one abandoned vehicle on our East-West jaunt – someone who’d gone off track and got bogged down in a salt pan.

But please do not let this put you off. It’s all part of the art adventure.

1. Giant mirrors

I love Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson’s Shadows Travelling on the Sea of the Day.

It’s a collection of 20 large circular sculptures with mirrors that invites you to reflect, examine and move as you watch yourself and your surrounds while interacting with these large installations.

Yep, this artwork by the internationally renowned artist cries out for personal involvement, thanks to the mirrors, and symmetrical shapes in a deserted landscape.

When we first visited the Shadows late in 2022, the area was unfenced. It was brand new. We’d parked our car in the shade of one of the giant mirror shadows and marvelled at the unfolding images.

We explored our surrounds and examined both ourselves and our environment in the mirrors.

According to the artist, this is part of what he intends of his work. Eliasson looks at the interplay of human perception and the natural world.

Or to use his words as shared in an article by CNN, the structures are designed to “draw people in” and interact with the installation and to contemplate their surroundings.

“The artwork, its mirrors and structure invites you to see the landscape anew, the location you may take for granted as plain, empty, or everyday, and hopefully it will offer you a new relationship with the ground beneath your feet and to the earth,” says Eliasson in an interview with Dimitris Sideridis in January last year.

I used to think this of the Karoo in South Africa – an empty, unforgiving environment. How wrong was I. The Karoo is a salve for the soul. It’s teeming with wonder … But enough, enough. It’s no time for becoming homesick.

In a way, the Shadows celebrate the desert – its tiny shells, resilient plants, cultural artefacts, the desert animals, the air, the stories of the place, its history, the heat and so on as visitors are enveloped by the environment both above and below them.

Instagrammable opportunities

As you will appreciate, the Shadows make for good photographic opportunities.

It’s fun, too.

Families with children love this artwork, too. Children are delighted by what they can see, especially themselves, and so the installation becomes so much more than a space for introspection.

We take all our visitors to enjoy these experiences, but also because it is close to attractions. These include:

• The Al Zubarah fort
• The adjacent UNESCO world heritage site, and
• The Ain Mohammed archaeological site.

I still need to put pen to paper about these places.

(And you, like me, thought there was nothing to be seen in the desert. Do you know you can even find truffles in the desert, locally known as Fagga?)

I hear you

The interaction with the mirrors extends beyond the visible to the audible. When alone, it’s just you and the sound of the wind and the seemingly desolate environment. It’s a peaceful, almost cathartic environment.

But equally, it can be vibrant and fun too when you shout, and you hear your words echoed. Children love this, too.

There’s little or no signage explaining the artwork. The upside to this is that you are able to form your own personal impressions and not be swayed by what you are supposed to do or think.

Getting there

The Shadows is not well sign-posted, but is close enough to Fort Zubarah and the Ain Mohammed heritage sites in the northwest region of Qatar for you to find them.

(As we have learnt as you read on, the lack of signage outside of Doha is often a reality … and Mrs Waze (aka GPS) becomes your best friend, along with that all-important sense of humour).

This installation is close to the coast, and clearly visible if you are looking for it (Qatar is the second flattest country in the world, so you shouldn’t miss it!). Shadows is but a short drive on a cumbersome track off the coastal road to a car park of sorts.

Please note, there isn’t so much as a litter bin, so don’t expect public toilets. It will be wise to use the ones at the fort, about 10km away.

You will walk some 500-plus metres to the Shadows where the distant installation becomes all the more intriguing the closer you get, and finally get to interact and reflect on all those reflections.

2. Imposing line

And then there is Richard Serra’s astounding East-West/West-East sculpture in the Brouq nature reserve in the middle of nowhere.

For me, the middle of nowhere means where there is no sign of human habitation. In fact, to reach the place, using Mrs Waze, we went via a camel underpass, and then followed what we believed to be the most travelled desert tracks in our SUV.

Again, there are no signposts, but given the size of the sculpture, you can see them from far away. The routes vary. The one we took was not the one we used on our return!

In layman’s terms, the artwork consists of four huge planks that rise out of the sand in the “middle of nowhere.”

They are actually four steel plates, two over 14 metres in height.

The contrast is spectacular.

East-West insights

The sculpture, erected in 2014, lies on the East-West axis. It may be speaking of Qatar’s geographical home in the East, but also of its alignment with the West – but that’s just a thought from me.

I am sure the artist himself wouldn’t mind such a possibility since the content of his work always has the viewer at heart. He acknowledges that he cannot predetermine what people will make of it.

Serra confesses that his East-West structure is the most fulfilling thing he has ever done. He has done others in Qatar, like his towering sculpture “7”.

“It’s a piece that I’d really like to be seen.”

The art was commissioned by Qatar Museums, and in particular, Sheika al-Mayaas Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, a sister of the ruling Emir of Qatar, who is still successfully driving the arts, culture and heritage agenda in Qatar.

The location for the art was chosen by the former Emir, Sheik Hamad bin Khalife al-Thani, who remembered it from his youth as a place where “herds of antelope gathered”, according to an article in the New Yorker.

Other attractions

There are white cliffs nearby that are not too difficult to climb.

Zeekreet village is also home to one of the oldest mosques in the country. It was recently renovated.

Getting there

Getting to East-West is a little trickier because you will not see the sculpture from the main road from Zekreet village. The GPS co-ordinates are 25.5171, 50,8710. In my opinion, Mrs Waze is better than Google Maps.

The trip takes about an hour and 15 minutes from Doha.

Take the Dukhan HIghway and turn left at the Leawaina interchange and then right onto the Dukhan Service Road. It’s here that you take the camel underpass (number 7) and then through the Zeekreet Beach and UNESCO Reserve Road.

I wouldn’t want to tackle this trip in a sedan car, but our SUV with two-wheel drive was sufficient. It took us a good 15 minutes across the desert to reach our destination.

We stuck to the more obvious tracks, bearing in mind that folk often come to the desert in their larger SUV to race and explore, so you might come across another vehicle – or not.

Again, there is a parking area of sorts but you can no public toilets.

Security personnel are on duty.

3. The Curious Desert

Having loved Eliasson’s Shadows, we couldn’t wait to find his latest Curious Desert installation near the country’s mangroves at Al Thakira.

Newspaper stories heralded it as an “experimental laboratory” with each artwork piece using mirrors, spheres, reflections, and solar energy that bend the light in different ways depending on the time of the day.

So off we went … the very next weekend.

Despite Google maps, we were unable to find said installation. But we did get some lovely shots of the beach and the nearby mangroves!

The following week a friend raved about the artwork – its strangeness, playfulness and position. We resolved to try again. But life and the summer months intervened.

An art adventure in Qatar

Six months later, having read about Eliasson’s first indoor exhibition at the National Museum of Qatar, and the weather once again suitable, we set off again.

This time I researched the route, adding visuals and signage to the GPS co-ordinates to take us to the Curious Desert.

Around and about we went, but to no avail.

We even involved said friend who responded to various WhatsApps which were inclusive of visuals of random signage and apparently abandoned tents.

Eventually, as we ambled up and down dunes, we came across a site hosting water sports and spied signs of life. Surely, where digital co-ordinates had failed us, a human could point us in the right direction … and indeed, he could.

“They removed the Curious Desert months ago,” he advised.

I told you, a sense of humour, is a prerequisite for such desert sojourns.

Nothing in my research had indicated as such.

No matter. Our art adventure might benefit from a diversion of sorts. And so we ambled down the coast and onto the highway to visit some cows in the desert instead …

I kid you not.

But more of the Baladna bovines (aka The Cows of Qatar) in my next blog post.