Qatar Museums has reopened Fahad Bin Ali Palace in Doha to the public for the first time in 20 years, launching two exhibitions that pair the country's architectural heritage with its ancient past. The palace, in the Msheireb district, was opened on 25 October by Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad Al-Thani, chairperson of Qatar Museums. Both shows run until 29 May 2027.

The first, Wooden Doors of Qatar: From Storage to Stories, gathers 52 historic doors, door frames and windows rediscovered in the National Museum of Qatar's stores, with one more door on loan from the Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani Museum. In the palace courtyard, an installation called What Once Was arranges historic doors and windows within the outlines of a traditional Qatari home, accompanied by a soundscape of gathering, celebration and privacy. Inside, a conservation display shows how the objects were documented, cleaned and mounted, while QR codes invite visitors to share photographs and memories that could help identify the homes, neighbourhoods and craftspeople behind each piece.

Alongside it, Atharna 2026: Life and Death in Pre-Islamic Qatar leads visitors through a reconstructed burial mound and an archaeologist's tent into a dim, flashlight-lit display. Jewellery, weapons and other objects excavated from pre-Islamic graves are used to show how archaeology, bioarchaeology and material analysis are reshaping what is known about life and death in ancient Qatar.

Built between 1952 and 1963, the palace compound contains some of the earliest examples of modern construction in Qatar, including reinforced concrete, alongside the colourful decoration of the style known as Doha Deco. The two exhibitions are shown together with Beyti Beytak, the future Art Mill Museum's exhibition on architecture and home, which opened at the palace the same weekend. The shows were organised by Qatar Museums' museography and heritage department with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture.