Qatar Museums (QM) has confirmed that majority of its museums and heritage sites will reopen to the public on 1st July 2020 as per suggestions from Qatar’s Health Protection & Communicable Disease Control Office of the Ministry of Public Health.
The reopening is in line with Ministry’s second phase of the general resumption of public activity in Qatar, based on milestones achieved in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic.
Qatar Museums will reopen the remaining of its museums in phases, while also rolling out the new health and safety protocols in accordance with global standards. It will carefully monitor progress to ensure well-being of staff and visitors.
The Museums and galleries that are likely to open on 1st July are the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA), Garage Gallery, and Arab Museum of Modern Art. The permanent collections of MIA and Mathaf will be open to visitors, apart from the special exhibition of Picasso’s Studios, organized in partnership with Musee National Picasso-Paris, at the Garage Gallery at Doha Fire Station.
The Heritage sites that are opening include Al Zubarah, Barzan Towers and Al Jassasiya.
The CEO of Qatar Museums, Ahmad Al Namla said that when welcoming back the public to museums and heritage sites from 1st July, a robust set of health and safety measures have been put in place.
The Qatar Museums team has done its best to engage the public through digital initiatives during the pandemic.
“We look for ward to beginning to reopen our doors. Our audiences are proud of these cultural institutions that offer not only inspiration and knowledge, but also provide gathering places for the community and space for respite, which is needed now more than ever,” Al Namla said.
The Museum gift shops will open and cafes will offer limited service during museum opening hours.
From Saturday to Thursday, IDAM restaurant at MIA will be open at limited capacity for dinner service. JIWAN and National Museum of Qatar (NMoQ) will open at limited capacity for lunch and afternoon tea.
The NMoQ gift shops will also remain open, though the NMoQ galleries will remain shut as the museum undergoes maintenance work.
During this initial phase, the public programs, group tours and special events will continue to remain suspended. The QM’s playgrounds, libraries and parks will remain closed for the first phase.
According to the Health Ministry guidelines, only a limited number of staff and visitors will be allowed entry into the museum. The museums and heritage sites will remain open from Sunday to Thursday between 9am to 3pm.
Visitors can reserve tickets in advance to the Qatar Museum website. On arrival at the museum, the visitors should present a ‘green’ health status on the Ehteraz virus-tracing app.
The temperature of each person will be checked at the entrance. Visitors who are 12 years of age and over will be required to wear a mask. Hand sanitizer stations will be placed throughout the location to encourage visitors to keep their hands clean.
The site will display signage reminding visitors to maintain a safe distance from other visitors on site. Cloak rooms will be unavailable during this period. Furthermore, interactive features at each museum including touchscreens will be temporarily removed and gallery guides will be offered online only.
The new health and safety measures and ticketing information by Qatar Museums is available at https://visit.qm.org.qa/.
