![Workers operate on "The Miraculous Journey", an art installation by artist Damien Hirst outside the Sidra Medical & Research Centre in Qatar's capital Doha, on the day of their unveiling on October 10, 2018. - Fourteen giant bronze sculptures by British artist Damien Hirst graphically documenting the moment from conception to birth have been officially unveiled outside a new hospital in Qatar. "The Miraculous Journey", which culminates with a 14-metre (46-feet) statue of a just-born naked baby, is the eye-catching centrepiece of 65 separate works at Doha's Sidra Medicine Hospital, forming possibly the largest collection of art at any medical facility anywhere in the world. (Photo by STRINGER / AFP) / The erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadata of this photo by - has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: [October 10] instead of [November 18]. Please immediately remove the erroneous mention[s] from all your online services and delete it (them) from your servers. If you have been authorized by AFP to distribute it (them) to third parties, please ensure that the same actions are carried out by them. Failure to promptly comply with these instructions will entail liability on your part for any continued or post notification usage. Therefore we thank you very much for all your attention and prompt action. We are sorry for the inconvenience this notification may cause and remain at your disposal for any further information you may require. (Photo credit should read STRINGER/AFP/Getty Images)](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/181119142028-02-miraculous-journey.jpg?q=x_3,y_73,h_1593,w_2831,c_crop/w_1280)
![Workers operate on "The Miraculous Journey", an art installation by artist Damien Hirst outside the Sidra Medical & Research Centre in Qatar's capital Doha, on the day of their unveiling on October 10, 2018. - Fourteen giant bronze sculptures by British artist Damien Hirst graphically documenting the moment from conception to birth have been officially unveiled outside a new hospital in Qatar. "The Miraculous Journey", which culminates with a 14-metre (46-feet) statue of a just-born naked baby, is the eye-catching centrepiece of 65 separate works at Doha's Sidra Medicine Hospital, forming possibly the largest collection of art at any medical facility anywhere in the world. (Photo by STRINGER / AFP) / The erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadata of this photo by - has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: [October 10] instead of [November 18]. Please immediately remove the erroneous mention[s] from all your online services and delete it (them) from your servers. If you have been authorized by AFP to distribute it (them) to third parties, please ensure that the same actions are carried out by them. Failure to promptly comply with these instructions will entail liability on your part for any continued or post notification usage. Therefore we thank you very much for all your attention and prompt action. We are sorry for the inconvenience this notification may cause and remain at your disposal for any further information you may require. (Photo credit should read STRINGER/AFP/Getty Images)](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/181119142028-02-miraculous-journey.jpg?q=x_3,y_73,h_1593,w_2831,c_crop/w_250)
Conceptual artist Damien Hirst is not one to shy away from a statement – and a series of bronze sculptures of a gestating fetus gracing the entrance to a new hospital in Qatar is proof.
The 14 giant sculptures, titled “The Miraculous Journey,” show a fetus growing inside a uterus, from conception to birth, ending with a 46-foot sculpture of a naked newborn baby boy.
They make up Qatar’s expanding portfolio of modern and contemporary Western art as the tiny Persian Gulf nation spends rapidly to modernize its capital before the 2022 World Cup soccer competition.
The sculptures were originally unveiled with great ceremony in 2013 but were covered from public view shortly after. Officials said the sculptures had to be protected from ongoing building work to the $8 billion Sidra Medicine hospital in Doha, but shrouding them followed criticism on social media at the time, Agence France-Presse reports.
“We are not expecting everyone to like them. We are not expecting everyone to understand them,” Layla Ibrahim Bacha, an art specialist with the government-supported Qatar Foundation, which owns most of the Hirst artwork, told AFP.
The country’s rulers are keen to turn Qatar into a cultural destination – an ambition that has to contend with a degree of social conservatism and a Saudi Arabia-led boycott of the nation.
British artist Hirst acknowledged that his work, which took three years to make, could be controversial.
“I suppose the cultural differences are a bit difficult. You know in England, there wouldn’t be a problem with a naked baby, you see the embryo and the egg and sperm,” he told Doha News in 2013.
“You know, culturally, it’s the first naked sculpture in the Middle East … It’s very brave” of Qatar to commission it.
Bacha said the work very much reflects the mission of the hospital, which treats women and children.
“I think it’s perfect for the location, as you can see a lot of people are taking pictures, I think it’s becoming iconic,” she added.
Bacha added that the works were chosen with “specific themes” in mind. “They are not meant to be decorative, they are meant to be creating debates, helping the patient to keep calm,” she added.
The sculptures are among 65 works by high-profile international artists chosen specially for the facility.
On the fourth floor of the building is a neon installation by Turner Prize-winning artist Tracey Emin, entitled “I Listen To The Ocean And All I Hear Is You.”
According to local media, the hospital was officially inaugurated last week. It successfully conducted the country’s first surgery to separate conjoined twins last month.