Hamad International AirportDoha
Cosmos
Jean-Michel Othoniel's golden interpretation of the oldest surviving Islamic astrolabe.
Cosmos by Jean-Michel Othoniel reimagines the oldest surviving Islamic astrolabe as a suspended golden sculpture in Hamad International Airport. Othoniel, known for glass bead works and reflective surfaces, translates scientific instrument into ornament without losing the sense of measurement and sky that made the astrolabe essential to Islamic astronomy.
The piece continues a thread of French–Gulf cultural exchange visible across Qatar Museums' programme.
Exhibo editorial
Othoniel makes light behave like liquid. In an airport terminal that is mostly steel and glass, Cosmos is a deliberate softening: a reminder that the region's history includes observatories as well as runways.
Find it on HIA's published art trail and pair with Flying Man in the same visit if you are connecting.
How to find it
Inside Hamad International Airport; see the airport's art exhibitions page for the current location within the terminal.
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