Qatar’s Al Thani Foundation has come together with a Jerusalem museum and  Sotheby’s to keep artefacts from being sold and transferred to London. 

A Qatar-based foundation interjected to keep 268 rare artefacts at the Museum for Islamic Art in Jerusalem, a joint press release confirmed.

Some 268 artefacts, including 190 Islamic art objects and 68 rare timepieces, were set to be sold at Sotheby’s London auctions in October 2020. However, the sale received backlash and criticism from both international and local archaeological and cultural authorities.

“Now, thanks to the generous philanthropic intervention of The Al Thani Collection Foundation, a solution has been found which will ease the financial concerns of the museum whilst ensuring the pieces destined for sale be returned to the museum,” the press release said.

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As a thank you to the Qatari foundation, the Jerusalem-based museum will loan out an important item from the collection for a long-term exhibition at the Hotel de la Marine in Paris.

Under the terms of this new agreement, brokered by Sotheby’s, “there will also be further exchanges of loans between the two institutions. As part of this arrangement, the Al Thani
Collection Foundation will generously provide an annual sponsorship to the L.A. Mayer Museum for Islamic Art for the duration of this period,” the statement added.

The Al Thani Collection Foundation’s philanthropic initiatives include sponsorships, museum projects, the staging of exhibitions, an international loans programme and academic publications – honouring artistic achievement across a rich diversity of cultures.

These have taken place at institutions worldwide including The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg and Tokyo National Museum.

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