Zekreet desert & East–West/West–East

Four steel plates rise more than fourteen metres from the Brouq desert. Spread across over a kilometre, Richard Serra’s East–West/West–East draws your attention to the distances between the sculptures and the limestone formations around them. The landscape is as much a part of the work as the steel.

This is an appealing trip if you enjoy public art or would like to see Qatar’s western desert. You can spend time near individual plates and take in the wider arrangement as you move through the site. The spacing gives the visit its scale; the amount of walking can be planned with your driver around the weather and your mobility.

The limestone scenery around Zekreet adds another stop to the outing. Go with a suitable vehicle and a driver who knows the access tracks, and keep time for the return in daylight. A free day before the racing leaves room to enjoy both the artwork and the surrounding landscape without watching for a circuit departure.