Damien hirst knows how to draw a crowd. Renowned for his spectacular artworks and record-breaking sales, the artist-entrepreneur should even be able to lure people to the barren coast of the Gulf. This is part of the logic behind 'Relics', Mr Hirst's largest retrospective, which opened in the Qatari capital on October 10th. Extraordinary logistics went into staging this show: the Qatar Emiri Air Force was enlisted to transport certain artworks, and Shell, an oil company, provided purified water for the formaldehyde-tank sculptures. Fly larvae for an installation titled 'One Thousand Years' (1991) were flown business class from Britain on Qatar Airways. Installation took six weeks. On view are 93 works, many of which were not included in the Tate Modern's blockbuster retrospective in London last year, which the Qatari Museums Authority (QMA) sponsored for over £2m ($3.2m). That show was too expensive to travel anywhere else.
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