On Thursday 15 September 2022, on the eve of the grand re-opening of the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar, I joined Senior Curator, Dr. Mounia Chekhab Abudaya to talk about the collection of nineteenth-century art and objects at the MIA. In this interview, Dr. Mounia shares her reflections and expertise on a remarkable group of diverse objects and paintings in the MIA which deeply resonate for her. When I received her list of works, I was enthralled by their delicacy and boldness, but also their material qualities. We will look at toolboxes, enamel cup holders, embellished jewelry, and paintings and drawings. I am thrilled to introduce you to Dr. Mounia Chekhab Abudaya today. Dr. Mounia is the senior curator of North Africa and Iberia at the Museum. She was awarded a Ph.D. from the University of Sorbonne in Paris and is an expert on Western Mediterranean manuscripts and pilgrimage-related devotional materials in the Islamic world. Dr. Mounia is also a linguist and holds a degree in Literal Arabic and has studied Persian and Turkish languages. She has curated a long list of extraordinary exhibitions at both the Museum of Islamic Art and for other institutions around the world. I am particularly interested in an exhibition she did at MIA in 2015 called Qajar Women: Images of Women in 19th -century Iran and in this interview, we discuss some of the objects which featured in that show.

The music used in this episode is from a 2019 recording in Paris of Hossein Alizadeh playing the Setar and Madjid Khaladj playing the Dayereh at the Masters of the Improvisation: Iran.