MOHAMED KHOULAIDI

DOHA GOOGLE announced on Tuesday a partnership with Museum of Islamic Art and Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art to bring its path breaking art project to Qatar.

Google Art Project will enable people to discover and view more than a thousand works of art online in extraordinary detail.

The partnership is part of a major global expansion of the project, which now counts 151 partners in 40 countries. Art lovers can, at a click of the mouse, discover not just paintings, but also sculpture, street art, and photographs.

Museum of Islamic Art Director Aisha al Khater said, “We are very pleased to be the first museum in Middle East to participate in the Google Art Project’s 360-degree Street View offering.

“While we hope that all viewers may visit our Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, we believe that this virtual tour offering allows us to bring the museum’s collections, galleries, and architectural spaces into the homes of diverse people across the globe — regardless of class, income, or ability to travel — all via an interactive digital experience.” Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art Director Wassan al Khudairi said, “Participating in the Google Art Project is a unique way for Mathaf to broaden its outreach to an even wider audience.

It offers an exciting way to share our collection and continue the museum’s goals to expand people’s ideas about the region and present an Arab perspective on modern and contemporary art.” Under the Google Art Project, creations from a wide variety of cultures and civilisations, including Brazilian street graffiti, Islamic decorative art and ancient African rock art are among those represented.

More than 30,000 high resolution objects are available, up from the original 1,000 in only nine museums.

Street View images now cover 46 Museums, and more are on the way.

Moreover, with this launch, Google has finally brought the Art Project to the tablet. The experience of viewing Art on a tablet and browsing through rich content truly comes to life. Currently it supports the Android platform and it is hoped to have the iPad version ready post launch.

Google Engineering Vice- President Nelson Mattos asserted Google was committed to bringing all types of cultures online and making them accessible. Google Art Project Head Amit Sood said that the new expanded Art Project demonstrates Google’s commitment to all types of art - and cultures and civilisations all across the globe.