You aren’t alone if you’ve never heard of Qatar’s small capital. Nevertheless, some are already proclaiming it the “future cultural center of the Middle East.” Should Doha fulfill that prophecy, it will be largely thanks to the inspiration and efforts of two people: the daughter of Qatar’s emir, Khalifa al-Thani, the 25-year-old Duke University–educated Sheikha al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, who has conceived and established an entire suite of museums across the Gulf city; and Roger Mandle, the man she selected to oversee them. “She may only be in her 20s,” observes Mandle, “but the emira runs on a very sophisticated level—and she moves very quickly.”

Mandle, a self-described “dedicated globalist,” is no slouch, either. He has organized cross-cultural programs throughout a long and distinguished career, as deputy director and chief curator at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., from 1988 to 1993 and as president of the Rhode Island School of Design from 1993 through July 2008. “I am interested in the impact of one culture on another,” he says, “and right now the Middle East is the most fertile place for that.” Contributing to that “fertility” in Qatar, Mandle adds, is population growth powered almost entirely by foreigners and a cultural renaissance made possible, in part, by artistic and technological advances imported from abroad.

Mandle now directs the Qatar Museum Authority (QMA), under whose umbrella the museums will be managed. The crown jewel is the newly opened Museum of Islamic Art, a shining $1.6 billion, 337,000-square-foot white limestone edifice designed by I. M. Pei on a 64-acre island that was built specifically for the purpose and is reachable via a 200-foot bridge. Highlights of the collection, which represents 1,200 years of Muslim art, include a 9th-century white earthenware bowl from Iraq and a silk carpet from Timur dating from more than 500 years ago. Next on Mandle’s agenda: a redesign, by the 2008 Pritzker-winner, Jean Nouvel, of the National Museum, which will house historical artifacts.

Unlike the Louvre and the Guggenheim in Abu Dhabi, which borrow or rent their offerings, Doha’s museums exhibit mainly their own holdings, culled from the emir’s family collection. The QMA projects are further distinguished by their commitment to educational programs—some planned in coordination with the international Arabic broadcasting network Al-Jazeera, which is headquartered in Doha—and to the latest technology, aimed at maximizing visitor engagement with the displays.

Tiny Qatar, only slightly larger than Connecticut, seems an unlikely location for such a grand project, which Mandle frequently describes as “building a Smithsonian from the sand up.” But though small in area, the country is large in resources: Qatar’s substantial natural-gas reserves have made it possible for the royal family to purchase just about everything it wants for its personal collection, frequently outbidding institutions like the Metropolitan for both Islamic and Western art. It was the al-Thanis—perhaps influenced by Mayassa—who bought Damien Hirst’s Lullaby Spring last May for the record price of $19.2 million, and rumor has it they were also responsible for the $72.8 million purchase of Mark Rothko’s White Center, consigned by David Rockefeller, the year before.

Such riches, especially combined with expertise and determination, may well allow Mandle and the emira to achieve the goal they’ve set themselves: to, as Mandle puts it, “reinvent museums for the 21st century.”

"Roger Mandle" originally appeared in the December 2008 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's December 2008 Table of Contents.