Qatar

Al-Khudhairi succeeds Wael Shawky, artist and Director of Qatar Museums’ Fire Station: Artist-in-Residence Programme, who shaped the curatorial vision for the inaugural edition alongside Vincenzo de Bellis, Art Basel’s Chief Artistic Officer and Global Director of Fairs.

Al-Khudhairi brings both deep regional expertise and a globally informed curatorial practice to the role. Her longstanding connection to Qatar and the MENASA region was shaped most formatively by her tenure as Founding Director of Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Qatar, where she oversaw its successful opening in 2010 and landmark exhibitions including Sajjil: A Century of Modern Art and Cai Guo-Qiang’s Saraab.

Al-Khudhairi is currently Partner at The Curatorial / Office, a practice that brings curatorial thinking beyond museum walls. Most recently, Al-Khudhairi was part of the curatorial team for the 2025 Hawaii Triennial ALOHA NŌ. Her extensive international biennial experience includes serving as Co-Curator for the 6th Asian Art Biennial in Taiwan, Negotiating the Future (2017), and Co-Artistic Director for the 9th Gwangju Biennial in South Korea, ROUNDTABLE (2012). From 2007 to 2012, Al-Khudhairi was the founding director of Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art.

Al-Khudhairi’s institutional experience also includes serving as Ferring Foundation Chief Curator at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (CAM), where she curated a wide range of critically acclaimed solo and thematic exhibitions.

As the Hugh Kaul Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Birmingham Museum of Art, she organized Third Space: Shifting Conversations About Contemporary Art, for which the accompanying catalogue earned her an Award for Excellence from the American Association of Museum Curators in 2019.

Al-Khudhairi holds an MA in Islamic Art and Architecture from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London. She is a graduate of the Getty Leadership Institute and a fellow of the Center for Curatorial Leadership program, and in 2020, she was honored with ArtTable’s New Leadership Award.