Qatar Museums inaugurated a new five-story, 29,000-square-metre-facility known as M7, dedicated to innovation and entrepreneurship in the nation’s growing fashion and design industry, as part of the annual #QatarCreates celebration.

LOCATED IN THE HEART of Msheireb Downtown Doha, the mixed-use development that is reviving Doha’s historic core as a sustainable new live-work neighborhood and developed by Qatar Foundation (QF), M7 is founded to: advance the careers of Qataris in creative industries, especially design and fashion; train aspiring entrepreneurs in creative fields; spark creativity in people of all ages and backgrounds through exhibitions, performances, films, educational programmes, and public discussions; and help connect Qatar’s innovators with the world.

The name M7 acknowledges the seven goals that guided the creation of this new creative resource: accelerate (support the development of the country’s design community), connect (link creative people and industry), inspire (spark excitement through exhibitions), complement (provide material support to designers), equip(provide training, infrastructure, and mentoring), promote (put design at the center of life in Msheireb Downtown Doha), and empower (promote sustainable business practices).

Envisioned to serve Qatar’s emerging creative industries, M7 is positioned as the cultural, educational, and entrepreneurial centerpiece of Msheireb Downtown Doha. M7 features training, workshop, and incubator spaces.

Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chairperson of Qatar Museums, said: “Because the future of Qatar depends on cultivating the creative potential of all its citizens, Qatar Museums has developed M7 to raise public awareness of the vast influence of fashion and design as an industry and to provide much-needed support for Qatar’s own burgeoning creative sector, from concept design to the production line.”

Clustered in the dense, mid-rise Msheireb Downtown Doha – one of the world’s largest concentrations of LEED-certified buildings— are residences, shops, restaurants, offices, government buildings, and the Jalmood Mosque, plus parks, plazas, a medical center, and an international school. In addition to M7, cultural facilities include four historic heritage house museums, which stand just off the canopied Barahat Al-Nouq, the largest sheltered public square in the region. ✤

GO: VISIT WWW.QM.ORG.QA AND FOLLOW @QATAR_MUSEUMS ON INSTA FOR MORE INFORMATION.