In early 2008 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office completed the construction of a new British Embassy and Ambassador’s Residence in Doha, Qatar. Designed by architects Jordan + Bateman the new Embassy boasts a cool, contemporary interior with many walls faced with stone or wood. The Government Art Collection (GAC) suggested a commissioned work which would be integrated into the interior architecture of the building. A large meeting room which overlooks the main lobby of the Embassy was considered an ideal location as it offers viewpoints for visitors as well as staff.

Proposals were submitted by shortlisted artists and Jonathan Parsons was selected to receive the commission and approved by the GAC’s Advisory Committee. The resulting work, Let Me Count the Ways, continues Parsons’ established practice of working with maps and cartography. Installed at the Embassy in April 2008, the work is a three-dimensional acrylic sculpture, suspended within a wall-sized glass vitrine. Commenting on his use of cartography, Parsons has said:

‘By extracting partial images from maps, I remove most of their conventions (such as recognition, orientation and labelling). This robs the maps of their function and turns them into ‘pictures’ from a given source’.

Johathan Parson's, second from left, overseeing the installation of his work in the embassy.

Let me count the ways installed in the embassy

Jonathan Parsons was born in Redhill, Surrey. He graduated from Goldsmiths College in London in 1992, and his first solo exhibitions were held in London and Leamington Spa in 1996. He was one of a group of artists whose work was shown as part of the infamous exhibition 'Sensation', which was shown at the Royal Academy in London in 1997 and then toured to Berlin and the Brooklyn Museum of Art in New York.

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