The museum offers an original approach to the presentation of mixed media. Because of the nomadic history of Qatar and the changing environment, many physical artifacts do not exist, or are buried below the Gulf Sea. This provides a unique opportunity to explain the history of Qatar and its people through art film projections and interactive animations.

The first set of galleries [G2-G5] focus heavily on the beginning life of Qatar. The form of the museum was derived by the physical and chemical formation of a desert rose which is specific to Qatar, and important because the compound CaCO3 also signifies oil is present.

In Galleries G6-G8 the subject from desert life changes to Life on the Coast. This is an important transformation and marked the changing of seasons. The Qataris would travel from desert to coast and live a new life with a change of environmental factors, food and activities.