Qatar's ruling elite are spending hundreds of millions of dollars in making the country a world-class art destination.

Recent investments include the $250m purchase of Paul Cezanne's The Card Players and the bringing of Takashi Murakami's Ego exhibit to Doha, the capital.

A leading art paper has called the tiny peninsula the world’s biggest buyer of contemporary art, spending about $1bn  since 2005.

At the heart of the small nation's big art aspirations is Sheikha Al Mayassa, daughter of the country's emir.

Al Jazeera's Will Jordan reports from Doha.