A form for
a public place.
Monzology, with Barazanji Studios, was commissioned to develop original public-art concepts for the State of Qatar — taking the visual language of Qatari artist Salman Al-Malek as the creative reference, and exploring where it could go as sculpture for Doha's public spaces. One concept became this: an abstract human form in reflective metal, contrasting colour and water.
A 3D concept visualization — the abstract form, staged in public space
01 The commission
In 2020, Qatar's committee for artworks invited Qatari artists — Salman Al-Malek among them — to submit sculpture proposals for the beautification of Doha's central and Corniche developments. We were brought in to help explore how the artist's established language could translate into new sculptural directions, and to visualize those directions in 3D so they could be judged as real objects in real places.
Take a language you respect — and ask where else it could stand.
02 The concept — a human form
The idea we developed reads at once as a gathering of veiled figures and as a range of peaks. The first material study grounds it in brushed, patinated metal — solemn and civic, a form you'd walk quietly around, with water brought in as part of the setting.
03 Reflective metal, a red heart
The second study reworks the same form as flowing polished chrome, each shape split by a cleft that opens onto a lacquer-red interior — reflective metal plus contrasting colour, exactly as the concept intended. At night, under uplighting, it turns jewel-like: a cool exterior around a warm centre.
04 The sculpt
Under the staging, the piece is a clean sculpt. These neutral turntable renders show the form on its own — elevation, three-quarter, high angle — the way a maquette is studied before a proposal is presented.
05 What stands there today
In 2022, Qatar Museums installed "Toub Toub Ya Bahar" — a permanent reflective stainless-steel public artwork by Qatari artist Salman Al-Malek, standing on the Doha Corniche with the West Bay skyline behind it. It is an homage to earlier generations of Qatari women who waited for the safe return of sailors and divers, and it takes its name from an old Qatari song of that waiting. Qatar Museums records it at 2 × 2.2 × 8 m.
The installed artwork on the Doha Corniche. Photo: Sarjoun Faour — © Qatar Museums. Shown for reference only.
The installed artwork bears notable visual similarities to elements explored in the concept we submitted. This page documents Monzology and Barazanji Studios' concept-development and submission work only. We make no claim of authorship, production, commission, or involvement in the subsequently installed artwork, which is credited to Salman Al-Malek.
06 Where it stands
The sculpture sits on the waterfront promenade of Al Corniche Street, in Doha's Al Bidda district — on the bay, facing the towers of West Bay across the water.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors · Location as published by Qatar Museums
07 The artist behind the reference
Our brief began with one instruction: start from the visual language of Salman Al-Malek. Reading his work was the whole first phase of this project — so it is worth saying who he is.
His second permanent public work in Qatar, drawn from the rock carvings of Al Jassasiya. Photo © Qatar Museums.
Biography compiled from Qatar Museums, Al Markhiya Gallery and Qatar News Agency. Monzology has no affiliation with, and does not represent, the artist.
Salman Al-MalekQatari visual artist & cartoonist · b. Doha, 1958
One of Qatar's most established visual artists. Al-Malek took a bachelor's degree in education and arts in Cairo in 1982 and built a career across painting, printmaking and caricature — he is counted among the most prominent Arab cartoonists. His painting is known for poetic colour and human forms held inside colourful realms. That thread — the figure, abstracted, wrapped in colour — is exactly what we were asked to carry into sculpture.
"Drawing and painting are an existential matter, where artists find themselves."Salman Al-Malek — Qatar News Agency, Dec 2023
- CollectionsLos Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) · Museum of Modern Arab Art · National Museum of Qatar
- ExhibitedIstanbul Museum of Art (2015) · Cairo International Biennale (2009) · Bangladesh Biennale, Dhaka (2009)
- AwardsGolden Palm Award, Periodic Exhibition of the GCC States · Dana Award, Kuwait
- Public art in Qatar"Toub Toub Ya Bahar" (2022), Doha Corniche · "Al Jassasiya" (2022)
08 The hand behind the sculpt
Every form on this page was developed and art-directed by Monzology. For the sculpt itself — the veiled figure, the cleft that opens, the polished shell — we hired a specialist from outside the studio: a freelance 3D artist, brought in for this project.
Hany Abdelkhalek
Freelance 3D artist · hired for this project
We hired Hany for this project. He sculpted the form and carried it all the way to presentation — the abstract human figure, the cleft opening onto the lacquer-red interior, the brushed-metal and polished-chrome material studies, and the day and night renders that let the piece be judged as a real object in a real place. A 2D background artist for animation and games by craft, which is why the staging reads like a frame rather than a turntable.
- 01 Creative concept development
- 02 Sculptural ideation & art direction
- 03 Abstract human-form design
- 04 Two material & colour directions
- 05 3D concept visualization (day & night)
- 06 Concept presentation · with Barazanji Studios
Let's talk it through,
in person.
Book a meeting →Attribution: "Toub Toub Ya Bahar" (2022) and "Al Jassasiya" (2022) are credited to Salman Al-Malek, courtesy of Qatar Museums. Photograph of "Toub Toub Ya Bahar" by Sarjoun Faour — © Qatar Museums; photograph of "Al Jassasiya" © Qatar Museums — both reproduced here for reference and commentary only, and removed on request. Portrait of Salman Al-Malek reproduced for reference and commentary only, and removed on request. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Artist biography compiled from Qatar Museums, Al Markhiya Gallery and Qatar News Agency; Monzology has no affiliation with and does not represent the artist. This case study covers Monzology & Barazanji Studios’ concept-development and submission work only; it makes no claim of authorship or involvement in the installed artwork. Qatar Museums, Ashghal and other government entities are referenced for context and are not presented as Monzology clients or partners.