When Art Basel announced this summer that it would make its Middle East debut with a Doha edition, the region's art scene was abuzz with excitement.
Developed in partnership with Qatar Sports Investments and the cultural agency QC Plus, the inaugural Gulf fair is set to run from February 5 to 7. It will take place at the cultural hub M7 and around the Doha Design District in Msheireb, near landmarks including the National Museum of Qatar.
Internationally acclaimed Egyptian artist Wael Shawky was recently appointed as artistic director of the event. Alongside Art Basel’s global director of fairs, Vincenzo de Bellis, Shawky will head the fair’s curatorial vision and help shape the gallery selection process.
Shawky, who represented Egypt at the 2024 Venice Architecture Biennale, has been exhibited worldwide. His often satirical artworks blend history from non-western perspectives, ancient myths and contemporary critique.
He believes the modern and contemporary art fair making a home in Doha is an opportunity to grow and shape the region's entire art scene, adding more than just commercial value.
“What I love about Qatar is there is always this idea of doing things on a bigger scale, creating something for the whole region, and this is what I like a lot,” Shawky tells The National. “There is a need for a professional art market that we don't really have, and a need for professional galleries … in Egypt or Qatar, there are very few.”
As the artistic director of Qatar Museums’ Fire Station, a residency programme for young creatives, Shawky says education and commercial goals must go hand in hand to build a healthy creative ecosystem.
“I’m honoured to take part in this first launch of Art Basel Qatar because it gives the responsibility to shape the art scene in the region,” he says. “As an artist I know that as much as we have to have proper art institutions, we must also have proper art education, in order to have a proper professional market.
“I cannot convince the young generation to make art if they cannot live from it. This is something that must complete the cycle,” he continues. “Part of the Art Basel Qatar programming will include Fire Station becoming a platform for educational programmes.”
There will be a few differences between Art Basel Qatar and its international sister editions in Switzerland, Hong Kong and Miami. This inaugural event will be slightly smaller than the others and have a different format. Instead of the traditional booth model, galleries will create solo presentations responding to the fair’s overarching theme, with a focus on fostering greater engagement with the artwork on show.
While the selection process is still under way, about 80 to 100 international galleries will participate, spread across M7 and the Doha Design District, as well as public spaces in Msheireb, where they hope to offer additional programming, artistic performances and installations.
“What I'm trying to push a lot in this art fair is to have more Arab artists, which is a bit of a problem, because in the Arab world, we don’t have a large amount of professional galleries that can apply to Art Basel,” Shawky explains. “I also know many really great artists that don't have galleries. So that's a lot of the conversations we are having now, but we can think of it as a long-term project.
“Because each gallery is just presenting one artist, it will hopefully encourage them to bring the best, rather than just a mix of everything that can be sold,” he adds.
“Many artists I speak with are tired of art fairs. Sometimes galleries exhibit the work in a bad way. I don’t want to blame galleries, but we want the artists to be more involved with the presentations again, for the sake of elevating the works.”
The theme for 2026 will be Becoming, intended as a meditation on humanity’s continuing transformation and the evolving systems that shape how we live, believe and create meaning. With the region’s rapid development, and the new fair contributing to the art changing scene, it seems a fitting theme.
The theme will capture how heritage and tradition intersect with modernity and technology, how once insular societies adapt to globalism, and how the seemingly endless growth of urban life is shaping our lives.
“For me, these types of developments are often connected to landscape both literally and figuratively,” Shawky says. “They just develop from one system to another. I'm trying to look at this idea across the whole region – the idea of moving from Bedouin to tribal society to urbanism, for example. “All the ways societies dream of moving from one system to a higher system – it’s endless – so we’ve been looking for artists that explore this in some way.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Ways to control drones
Countries have been coming up with ways to restrict and monitor the use of non-commercial drones to keep them from trespassing on controlled areas such as airports.
"Drones vary in size and some can be as big as a small city car - so imagine the impact of one hitting an airplane. It's a huge risk, especially when commercial airliners are not designed to make or take sudden evasive manoeuvres like drones can" says Saj Ahmed, chief analyst at London-based StrategicAero Research.
New measures have now been taken to monitor drone activity, Geo-fencing technology is one.
It's a method designed to prevent drones from drifting into banned areas. The technology uses GPS location signals to stop its machines flying close to airports and other restricted zones.
The European commission has recently announced a blueprint to make drone use in low-level airspace safe, secure and environmentally friendly. This process is called “U-Space” – it covers altitudes of up to 150 metres. It is also noteworthy that that UK Civil Aviation Authority recommends drones to be flown at no higher than 400ft. “U-Space” technology will be governed by a system similar to air traffic control management, which will be automated using tools like geo-fencing.
The UAE has drawn serious measures to ensure users register their devices under strict new laws. Authorities have urged that users must obtain approval in advance before flying the drones, non registered drone use in Dubai will result in a fine of up to twenty thousand dirhams under a new resolution approved by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai.
Mr Ahmad suggest that "Hefty fines running into hundreds of thousands of dollars need to compensate for the cost of airport disruption and flight diversions to lengthy jail spells, confiscation of travel rights and use of drones for a lengthy period" must be enforced in order to reduce airport intrusion.
