Murakami's Ego Debut > Sneak Peek at the VIP Opening

On tour with Murakami and Sheikha Al-Mayassa

On tour with Murakami and Sheikha Al-Mayassa

And the sweets keep coming! Guests were offered bite-sized eclairs, macaroons, and so much more all of which had Murakami's artwork!

Look who we found! Simon du Pury, Chairman of Phillips de Pury & Company

Amazing view of Ego

Installation View of Murakami - Ego, 2012, Al Riwaq, Doha, Qatar

Welcome to Murakami -­‐ Ego, 2012 Inflatable structure

Takashi Murakami, the artist’s first solo exhibition in the Middle East. Murakami – Ego debuted tonight and will be on view from February 9 to June 24, 2012 in the Al-Riwaq exhibition hall, located on the grounds of the Museum of Islamic Art on Doha’s Corniche. The exhibition immerses visitors in a fantasy world conceived by the renowned Japanese artist, capturing the way Murakami channels the ecstasy and anxiety of contemporary culture.

Murakami – Ego is part of a series of cultural initiatives organized by the QMA to promote and support local and international art, foster conversations about artists and popular culture, and build bridges between cultures. At the time of the opening of Murakami – Ego, QMA also will present Cai Guo-Qiang: Saraab at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art.

“Qatar Museums Authority is pleased to present the work of renowned Japanese artist Takashi Murakami in Doha, for his first solo exhibition in the Middle East,” said Qatar Museums Authority Chairperson Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani. “The exhibition continues to advance QMA’s mission to encourage global cultural dialogue and exchange, as well as launch the 2012 celebration of forty years of diplomatic relations between Qatar and Japan.”

The exhibition features some of the artist’s most celebrated series, including “Kaikai Kiki Lots of Faces” and “Pom and Me,” which are presented in their entirety for the first time. For this presentation, Murakami has conceived of the exhibition itself as a work of art, creating new modes of display that include sculptural pedestals with digital animation, a circus tent that doubles as an indoor cinema, and a new 100-meter-long painting that wraps around the exhibition space. Most spectacularly, the artist depicts himself as a larger than life inflatable creature, greeting visitors at the entrance of the exhibition, turning the show into a giant self-portrait, in which Murakami appears as a character in his own typically supernatural world.

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