Hajj, pilgrimage to the heart of Islam

ACCIONA Productions and Design is consolidating its presence in the Qatari capital Doha through a revealing exhibition at the Museum of Islamic Art.

A moving journey to the heart of Islam is the theme of a stunning new exhibition developed by ACCIONA Productions and Design that opened in Doha on 9 October. Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chair of the Qatar Museums Authority, opened Hajj, The Journey Through Art, which is showing at the Museum of Islamic Art in the Qatari capital until 5 January 2014.

ACCIONA Producciones y Diseño (APD) carried out the project by harmoniously accommodating a sequence of sacred contents with stateof- the art design. The result is an installation that brings together over 200 exhibits from the world's most important museums and institutions, around which visitors are guided by the stars.

A range of objects are displayed in circular spaces symbolizing the stations pilgrims pass through before prostrating themselves before the Kaaba, one of Islam's most sacred pilgrimage sites. The scenographic light, so characteristic of ACCIONA Producciones y Diseño projects, unifies an environment where the treasures can communicate their origins.

The great multimedia aspect of this new exhibition, created by over 30 professionals, is the circular projection centered on the monumental textiles which drape the holy walls of the Kaaba, representing the infinite journey of Muslims fulfiling one of the basic pillars of their religion. The exhibition is filled with prayers, chants and orations, such that the installation is given a human dimension simultaneously charged with mysticism.

Cultural engineering

The project is framed in a new concept called 'Cultural Engineering', which APD deploys to display the cultural, social and economic wealth of determined places using technological innovation and sustainable development criteria. On choosing the company's project, however, the Qatar Museums Authority in Doha pointed up the minimalist essence of the exhibition, "in which the objects displayed are not overwhelmed by louder aesthetic considerations, and are supported by cutting-edge technology and aesthetics.".

Hajj, The Journey Through Art consolidates ACCIONA's presence in Doha, a city firmly committed to the art world as a globalizing influence and unifier of nations.

Other exhibitions

ACCIONA Producciones y Diseño was also responsible for the design and execution of two other exhibitions in Qatar. The first, dedicated to the Habsburg diplomat Hans Ludwig von Kuefstein, was also shown at the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha. The other, The Art of Travel: Bartholomäus Schachman (1559-1614), supervised by Qatar's Orientalist Museum, was held in Al-Riwaq Hall.