An exciting addition to the regional cultural calendar, the inaugural Art Basel Qatar is taking over Msheireb Downtown Doha in a format developed specifically for the city.
Bringing together 87 galleries from 31 countries to present the work of 84 artists, the event runs from today to Saturday.
Curated by Egyptian artist Wael Shawky, who serves as artistic director, in collaboration with Art Basel’s chief artistic officer and global director Vincenzo de Bellis, the event carries the theme 'Becoming' and explores ideas of metamorphosis, transition, upheaval and the thresholds in between.
“This was not about reproducing an existing model in a new geography,” Shawky says. “It was a chance to co-create something new, rooted in and inspired by Qatar and the wider region. What excited me most was the idea of bringing artists and galleries from the region into conversation with the international art world.
The open format “places each artist’s practice in context,” Shawky says. “It gives each gallery the space to present a complete thought, a fuller narrative, and grants audiences the time to really engage with these stories.
“We’re asking people to go slower, go deeper – to see the fair not only as a marketplace, but as a cultural platform that responds to the realities of this region.”
For many regional galleries, the fair marks their first participation in an Art Basel event, including Cairo’s Gallery Misr, Dubai’s Tabari Artspace and Beirut’s Saleh Barakat Gallery. Beyond the gallery booths, satellite events and public performances extend into the city, lending the programme a rhythm closer to a biennale – albeit with works available for sale.
Unlike other Art Basel events, the Doha fair features exclusively solo presentations. More than half of the artists presented are from the Gulf region, including Ali Banisadr, Mona Hatoum, Simone Fattal, Ali Cherri, Meriem Bennani, Hassan Sharif and Iman Issa.
“The multi-site structure and solo format propose a different rhythm for the art fair,” De Bellis says. “One that reflects our belief that relevance today is built not through scale alone, but through attention, context and depth. Through site-specific works and performances, the fair extends into the city itself, allowing artists to engage directly with Doha’s architecture, social spaces and cultural fabric.”
At Egypt’s Gypsum Gallery, up-and-coming Egyptian artist Mohamed Monaiseer presents I, Pet Lion, a series of textile works drawing on childhood games to examine how ideas of control, conquest and domination are embedded in objects designed for play. Referencing chessboards and vintage Ludo games, the works interrogate how the language of war is concealed, normalised and absorbed through seemingly innocent forms.
Combining painting, hand embroidery and khayamiya (applique stitching), Monaiseer employs heraldic symbols and animals to reference western colonial powers that occupied Egypt – using grandeur and ornament to mask histories of violence. Gallery director Aleya Hamza says the fair’s format aligns with the gallery’s ethos.
“It’s very artist-centric, which is important for us because we’re very close to our artists,” she tells The National. “We try to support and produce their work in any way we can, so focusing on one artist allows audiences to really engage with a body of work, one idea, one practice.”
At Beirut’s Galerie Tanit, Iraqi-Finnish artist Adel Abidin presents works from his continuing series The Revolt, which revisits the largely erased histories of the Zanj Rebellion (869–883 CE), led by enslaved Southeast Africans. Documents on Salt features carved salt tablets that imagine how these individuals might have documented their lives had they been given the chance.
On the surrounding walls, Unmatched Narratives – a series of ink drawings depicting scenes from the rebellion – bleed through the paper, backed by mirrors that reveal the line work from behind. The effect questions how historical narratives are constructed and what remains hidden.
“I chose salt because when they were enslaved in Iraq, they were forced to clean salt from riverbanks to make the land fertile,” Abidin says. “I wanted to imagine how they might have recorded their daily lives – scenes of water, boats, even a letter from father to son.”
His research-driven approach, he adds, benefits from the fair’s structure. “With these small solo presentations, it’s a chance to shift perspectives – to look at art not only as something to buy and sell. There’s a lot of art-fair fatigue, so a new way of doing things is very exciting.”
Elsewhere, Dubai’s Tabari Artspace highlights Palestinian artist Hazem Harb, whose layered works draw on photographs and depictions of Palestinian archaeological objects to form new composite images.
Morocco’s Loft Art Gallery presents Moroccan-French artist Mustapha Azeroual, whose lenticular sunset works are created from hundreds of horizon photographs taken across different locations and times, resulting in shifting, perpetually transforming skylines.
Bombay-based gallery Chemould showcases a single, monumental work by Pakistani artist Rashid Rana. Fractured Moment compresses two hours from one night of bombardment in Gaza into a vast inkjet-printed wallpaper, assembled from CCTV footage of the sky. What begins as a calm expanse of black gradually erupts with explosions and rocket fire.
“This is just two hours of a single night in March 2025, when the firing was at its peak,” gallery director Shireen Gandhy says. “It’s a flattening of time into one composite infographic. Having only one work gives it the space and impact it deserves, especially for a first edition and for many visitors encountering the region for the first time.”
She adds that the solo format offers a meaningful point of entry. “It’s a way for international audiences to begin understanding the scene here, and for regional artists to be introduced globally. For a city hosting its first-ever art fair, it strikes a thoughtful balance of exchange.”
Art Basel Qatar runs at Downtown Doha from February 5 to 7
