Samaher Saif Al-Yazal
The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture revealed that the Bu Maher Coast site in Muharraq, located on Khalifa Al-Kabeer Street, is allocated to the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities to establish a Museum of Modern Art, in addition to allocating part of the property to the Ministry of Interior to establish a police museum.
In its response to the Muharraq Municipal Council regarding the Council’s recommendation to expropriate the site for public benefit, the Ministry stated that Property No. (002046699) is registered in the name of the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities for the purpose of establishing the Museum of Modern Art, while Property No. (002046698) is registered in the name of the Ministry of Interior as a police museum.
The Ministry explained that the site cannot be expropriated for public benefit, due to the presence of existing government allocations, stressing that expropriation in this case is technically and procedurally impossible.
It is noteworthy that the late international architect Zahaa Hadid developed the initial designs for the Museum of Modern Art, as the building emerges from a narrow land on the coast of Muharraq, and curves gently over the water towards Manama, and the attractive design of the art exhibition halls gradually opens towards the main entrance, forming an open and shaded public square on a sloping floor.
Details of the building’s interior units appear in the folds and protrusions of the undulating outer shell.
The building contains a series of successive architectural spaces to support the museum’s various requirements, the most important of which is providing galleries with independent and diverse features so that visitors and artists can enjoy them.
