Marking a defining moment for the launch of Art Basel Qatar, the Special Projects program, curated by Art Basel Qatar Artistic Director Wael Shawky in close collaboration with Vincenzo de Bellis, Chief Artistic Officer & Global Director Art Basel Fairs, a remarkable group of acclaimed voices from across the region.

The selected nine projects by Abraham Cruzvillegas; Bruce Nauman; Hasan Khan; Khalil Rabah; Nalini Malani; Nour Jaouda; Rayyane Tabet; Sumayya Vally; and Sweat Variant (Okwui Okpokwasili and Peter Born); will debut groundbreaking works that respond to and expand on the fair’s overarching theme, Becoming.

Spanning film and moving image, sculpture, performance, and architecture, they explore the environmental and social histories that have shaped contemporary life in the MENASA region and beyond.

Together, the artist's installations and peformances promise to transform the inaugural edition into a landmark experience, offering audiences bold perspectives, immersive interventions, and powerful reflections on transformation, identity, and the future.

Abraham Cruzvillegas (b. 1968, Mexico City) presents one of his most ambitious large-scale iterations of his long-term work titled autoconstrucción. Cruzvillegas’ interpretation of the word, meaning ‘self-construction’, refers to how scarcity breeds ingenuity, and how a philosophy of life can make something out of nothing, that is also a metaphor for identity and how we are constantly transforming ourselves.

Bruce Nauman (b. 1941, Fort Wayne, Indiana) is one of the most influential and provocative artists of the past half-century. Working across video, sculpture, performance, neon, installation, and sound, Nauman has consistently pushed the boundaries of artistic practice, exploring themes of perception, language, the body, and the psychology of space. For Art Basel Qatar, Nauman will present a new 3D video work Beckett's Chair Portrait Rotated that will be projected at a massive scale, transforming the vast interior of M7’s grand theatre into an enveloping field of light and motion.

Hassan Khan (b. 1975, lives and works in Berlin and Cairo) will premiere Little Castles and Other Songs, a live suite of his recent original songs performed on a customized digital system developed for this purpose by computer music designer and composer Olivier Pasquet. Written during a period of global turbulence, the project channels the material conditions and emotional register of a trembling, shifting world.

Khalil Rabah (b. 1961, Jerusalem) presents an iterative work titled Transition, among other things. The large-scale installation continues his long-standing engagement with institutional critique through an installation composed of reconfigured fragments drawn from domestic, institutional, and industrial contexts. By indexing and recomposing these displaced objects into sculptural architectures, the project interrogates the politics of space, environmental memory, and the shifting value of material remnants under occupation.

Nalini Malani (b. 1946, lives and works in Mumbai), who is known for creating work influenced by her experience of migration in the aftermath of the partition of India, presents a monumental single channel iteration of her nine-channel iPad stop motion video My Reality is Different, as a large scale outdoor projection on the M7 facade, transforming the heart of Msheireb with immersive, unrelenting imagery.

Nour Jaouda’s (b. 1997, Tripoli, Libya) project constructs an imagined “rest house” structure rendered through intersecting steel walls, layered architectural drawings, and suspended textile fragments, forming a space shaped by emotional subjectivity, memory, and imagination rather than fixed geography. The installation embodies a process of continual becoming; its skeletal, scaffold-like form houses dyed textile glimpses of a forgotten landscape, dissolving boundaries between rural and urban, past and future, idea and material realization.

Rayyane Tabet’s (b.1983, Beirut, Lebanon) What Dreams May Come | أيُّ أحلامٍ قَدْ تأتي  is an experiential pavilion that explores “Becoming” through the suspended, transformative space of dreaming, drawing from the humble gesture of resting beneath a palm tree. Formed by two intersecting circular structures clad in natural and artificial palm fronds, the immersive installation creates a shared sanctuary that reflects the Gulf’s shifting cultural landscapes and invites visitors into a space of introspection and communal presence. 

Sumayya Vally (b. 1990, South Africa) presents In the Assembly of Lovers, a continuously transforming majlis that draws from historic public spaces across the Muslim world, from the Great Mosque of Córdoba and the Church of the Nativity to Gaza’s Omari Grand Mosque and Beirut’s Martyr’s Square, to reimagine how collective presence gives shape to architecture. Taking its title from a line attributed to the Iraqi mystic Rabia al Adawiyya, which calls on us to build again through being together, the installation shifts configuration throughout the fair to host gatherings and conversations, becoming a living monument to how we once gathered and how we might gather again.

Sweat Variant (Okwui Okpokwasili and Peter Born) describes the collaborative practice of Okwui Okpokwasili and Peter Born. Their project is a three-hour durational movement work in which four performers test the limits of attention and relational memory as they hold, bear, and sustain one another within a shifting visual and sonic landscape. Continuing the duo’s exploration of embodied inheritance, the piece unfolds without a fixed end, inviting audiences to enter and exit freely.

The central Gallery sector unites 87 leading galleries from 31 countries and territories, including 16 making their Art Basel debut. It showcases works by 84 international artists, with more than half hailing from across the region. Under the curatorial direction of Wael Shawky, these presentations explore the central curatorial theme of Becoming. Art Basel Qatar will take place across M7 and the Doha Design District in downtown Msheireb, both recognized as prominent hubs for Qatar’s creative industries and contemporary cultural programming.

Almine Rech (Paris) presents works by Ali Cherri that engage with the idea of what it means to “become animal”. Drawing from philosophy, Cherri blends myth, sculpture, and symbolism to challenge how we see ourselves in relation to animals.

Anthony Meier and Waddington Custot (Mill Valley, California and Dubai) present a joint solo presentation dedicated to Etel Adnan (1925–2021), whose radiant and intimate paintings have shaped modern and contemporary art across cultures. This focused booth gathers works that reflect the core themes of her practice—landscape, memory, displacement, and a profound spiritual connection to place.

Athr Gallery (Jeddah) showcases Ahmed Mater’s continued engagement with Makkah through a photographic survey that reveals a city expanding like a living organism across shifting terrain. Rather than a fixed or eternal form, Makkah emerges as a living process, shaped by invisible economies, logistical operations, and architectural ambitions seeking meaning in a terrain still learning to inhabit itself.

Galerie Chantal Crousel (Paris) shows nine works by Mona Hatoum, including two new pieces for 2025. Using grids, cages, and altered materials, the works examine exposure, protection, and constraint. The presentation includes Drawing Heat IV (1) (2017), Drawing Heat III (1) (2017), Drawing Heat II (1) (2017), Mirror (2025), Divide (2025), Untitled (wall cabinet) II (2017), Cage for One (2022), and Inside Out (2019).

David Zwirner (New York) presents four major paintings from Marlene Dumas’s Against the Wall series (2009–2010). Based on media images of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the works explore contested meaning, shifting borders, and the instability of identity shaped by conflict and memory.

Gypsum Gallery (Cairo) presents Mohamed Monaiseer’s ongoing work I, Pet Lion. Drawing from heraldry, flags, and children’s strategy games, his embroidered and painted textiles trace how symbols of conflict enter everyday visual culture. Repetition, appliqué, and calligraphic marks expose how the logic of warfare appears as play.

Hauser & Wirth (Zurich) presents works by Philip Guston (1913–1980) tracing his shift from 1960s abstraction to 1970s figuration. Through ink, drawing, and painting, Guston pursued raw emotional clarity, treating stylistic transformation as an artistic necessity.

Gallery Isabelle (Dubai) dedicates its presentation to the late Emirati artist Hassan Sharif (1951–2016), a pioneering figure in conceptual art and experimental practice in the Gulf. This presentation approaches his practice through studies, works in progress, and a local language in the making. It considers how two seemingly opposed trajectories, Objects and Semi-Systems, coexist within a single philosophical approach.

Karma International (Zurich) presents a solo project by Syrian-born artist Simone Fattal (b. 1942), whose practice explores the intersections of memory, mythology, and place. Drawing from ancient civilizations, literature, and personal history, Fattal’s work evokes timeless human themes through minimalist forms which seamlessly blend with the theme, "Becoming".

Lia Rumma Gallery (Milan) showcases a new body of work by Shirin Neshat titled Do U Dare! (2025). Blending a haunting video installation and striking photographic works to interrogate the commodification of identity, the rise of authoritarianism, and the fragile line between self and spectacle.

Pace Gallery (New York) features Lynda Benglis’s Elephant Necklace Circle (2016), a suite of thirty-seven hand-formed ceramic sculptures. The twisting, organic forms capture gesture becoming object, embodying Benglis’s idea of the “frozen gesture.”

Sfeir-Semler Gallery (Beirut) presents a selection of works by MARWAN (1934–2016) that trace the evolution of his practice from the 1960s through the 1980s, culminating in his iconic Heads: meditative studies of interiority rendered in oil and watercolor. These portraits function as encounters with the human soul, transcending geographic or historical boundaries.

The Third Line (Dubai) debuts Sophia Al-Maria’s HiLux (2025), using the Toyota Hilux as an entry point into Gulf histories of fossil fuel, masculinity, mobility, and myth. The works reimagine the vehicle as a site of resilience, memory, and autonomy, offering a visual and sonic meditation on what endures amid collapse.

QATAR MUSEUMS EXHIBITIONS AND PUBLIC ART ON VIEW DURING THE SHOW

Art Basel Qatar takes place alongside a vibrant range of exhibitions and cultural programs across Qatar Museums institutions, underscoring the nation’s stature as a hub for artistic innovation and cross-cultural dialogue.

Alongside celebrated public artworks such as Richard Serra’s East-West/West-East and Olafur Eliasson’s Shadows Travelling on the Sea of the Day, the exhibitions program includes two major exhibitions marking the 15th anniversary of Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art; two landmark presentations dedicated to the life and work of the renowned architect behind the Museum of Islamic Art, I. M. Pei; and a groundbreaking exhibition co-curated architects Rem Koolhaas and Samir Bantal that reimagines the rural landscape as a space for sustainability, innovation, and future living.

Qatar Museums Exhibitions

Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art

• On view until February 9, 2026
  we refuse_d brings together more than 15 contemporary artists from the Arab world whose works explore themes of resistance, care, and resilience through new commissions and collaborative installations.

• On view until August 8, 2026
  Resolutions: Celebrating 15 Years of Mathaf offers a renewed perspective on the museum’s acclaimed permanent collection, tracing the evolution of Arab modernism through key moments in Mathaf’s institutional history.

ALRIWAQ

• On view until February 14, 2026 
  I. M. Pei: Life Is Architecture is the first full-scale retrospective of Pei’s seven-decade career. Curated and organized by M+ in 2024, it brings together more than 400 objects, including original drawings, architectural models, photographs, films, and archival documentation from institutional and private holdings that reveal Pei’s unparalleled vision.

ALRIWAQ – Performance Installation in MIA Park

• On view until February 7, 2026
  Rirkrit Tiravanija’s interactive installation untitled 2025 (no bread no ashes) reinterprets the bakery oven as both a functional tool and powerful cultural symbol. Inspired by Argentine artist Victor Grippo’s 1972 performance in Buenos Aires, the installation invites visitors to experience traditional ovens from the region as sites for social interaction, emphasising connection, shared labour, and cultural identity. Every Friday, visitors are invited to gather and reflect through a series of baking programmes showcasing different types of breads from diverse cultural traditions. The installation is organized by Rubaiya Qatar, an international contemporary art quadrennial’s inaugural edition in November 2026.

Museum of Islamic Art

• On view until February 14, 2026
  I. M. Pei and the Making of the Museum of Islamic Art: From Square to Octagon and Octagon to Circle present original sketches, models, early photographs, and archival documents—many displayed publicly for the first time—to retrace Pei’s process of transforming centuries of tradition into the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha.

QM Gallery Katara

• On view until February 7, 2026
  The Rooted Nomad: MF Husain is a fully immersive, multi-sensory experiential project presenting works by Maqbool Fida Husain one of India’s iconic artists, who lived his final years in Qatar. Through a distinguished portfolio of works that weave together myth, memory, and modernity, the exhibition reflects Husain’s vision of India as both an ancient civilization and a postcolonial nation. The exhibition was conceptualised and produced by Kiran Nadar Museum of Art.

Qatar Preparatory School and The National Museum of Qatar

• On view until April 29, 2026
  Spanning a geographic arc from Africa through the Middle East and Central Asia to China, Countryside: A Place to Live, Not to Leave highlights a region deeply connected by history and still home to a majority of the world’s population. Through installations, research, and storytelling, the exhibition challenges the dominant urban narrative and invites visitors to explore how rural life can offer more humane and ecological answers to today’s global crises.

3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum

• On view until March 7, 2026
  Sneakers Unboxed: Studio to Street features more than 200 pairs of sneakers displayed alongside photographs, films, and archival materials. Highlights include rare and limited-edition designs as well as an exclusive presentation of Virgil Abloh’s celebrated sneaker creations.
  

Public Art

Qatar Museum’s extensive collection of public art includes works by local, regional and international artists throughout the nation. Highlights include:

· Richard Serra’s East-West/West-East, Brouq Nature Reserve

· Olafur Eliasson’s Shadows Travelling on the Sea of the Day, Al Zubarah

· Shezad Dawood’s Doha Modern Playground, Al Masrah Park

· Mehdi Moutashar’s Aspire House, Aspire Park

· Shua'a Ali, Tawazun, Msheireb Downtown Doha

· Peter Fischli & David Weiss’s Rock on Top of Another Rock, MIA Park

· Rashid Johnson’s Village of the Sun, Old Airport Park

Art Basel is delighted to collaborate with outstanding partners from Qatar and around the world.

Art Basel Qatar’s Lead Partner is Visit Qatar.

Visit Qatar is the main marketing and promotional arm of Qatar Tourism, dedicated to promoting and expanding tourism in Qatar by cultivating its rich culture, developing thrilling attractions, enhancing Qatar’s calendar, becoming the leading MICE destination in the region, and diversifying events and luxury experiences. Visit Qatar is rooted in Service Excellence, boosting the entire tourism value chain, and increasing local and international visitor demand in Qatar. Through our network of international offices in priority markets, cutting-edge digital platforms, and marketing campaigns, Visit Qatar is expanding Qatar’s presence globally and enhancing the tourism sector.

As the Art Basel Qatar Lead Partner, Visit Qatar will curate a series of bespoke cultural and hospitality experiences throughout the fair. Through this collaboration, Visit Qatar reinforces Qatar’s position as a premier destination for art, culture, and international exchange.

For more information, visit www.visitqatar.com

Art Basel Qatar’s Premium Partner is Qatar Airways.

Named the World’s Best Airline a record ninth time at the 2025 Skytrax World Airline Awards, Qatar Airways leverages its network of over 170 destinations to connect people, places, and cultures. As Art Basel’s Premium Partner, the airline showcases its ability to be a catalyst for discovery and cultural dialogue, supporting all the fair’s prestigious global editions.

 Art Basel Qatar’s Associate Partners are Audemars Piguet and BMW.

• Audemars Piguet believes that creativity feeds culture, connects people and gives purpose to our lives. Through its dedicated contemporary art program, Audemars Piguet Contemporary, international artists are commissioned to create artworks across a variety of scales and media, enabling artists to explore new territories in their practice.

• BMW will provide a dedicated VIP Car Service for holders of the Art Basel Qatar First Choice card.

 Art Basel Qatar’s Logistics Partner is GWC.

• GWC, in partnership with QC+, is developing the region’s largest fine arts logistics warehouse built to museum-grade standards. With ICEFAT accreditation and 15 years of expertise, GWC is strengthening Qatar’s cultural infrastructure and creative economy.

Art Basel Qatar's Official Partners are Media City Qatar and Zegna.

• Media City Qatar will unveil a commissioned art piece by a regional artist, showcasing a distinct MENA perspective, and amplifying the region’s creative pulse at Art Basel Qatar.
  
• Zegna will provide co-branded tote bags for Art Basel Qatar VIP guests.

Art Basel Qatar’s Official Hotel Partner is Rosewood Doha.

• A visionary escape in Lusail, Qatar’s city of the future, Rosewood Doha is a sculptural landmark that rises high over the rich cultural canvas. Connecting oceanfront calm with a new urban ambition, the destination is home to 155 rooms and suites, 162 apartments and 276 Rosewood Residences.
  

Art Basel’s Global Lead Partner is UBS.

For more information, please visit artbasel.com/partners.

Art Basel Qatar 2026 Visitor Information

Opening Hours

Preview days (by invitation only):

• Tuesday, February 3, and Wednesday, February 4, 2026

Public days (access with a ticket or invitation):

• Thursday, February 5, 2026
• Friday, February 6, 2026
• Saturday, February 7, 2026

For further information on tickets and Premium Experiences, visit our Ticket Shop.

Venues

Art Basel Qatar unfolds across key cultural venues and public spaces throughout Msheireb Downtown Doha including: 
M7, Doha Design District, Barahat Msheireb, and Msheireb Museums. 

Media Access

Online registration for press accreditation for Art Basel Qatar is now open. For further information or to apply, visit artbasel.com/accreditation.

Press releases and high-resolution images can be downloaded directly from artbasel.com/press.

Media interested in profiling exhibitors or artists, or accessing VIP opportunities, are invited to contact Art Basel’s press office.

NOTES TO EDITORS 

About Art Basel
Founded in 1970 by gallerists from Basel, Art Basel today stages the world’s premier art shows for Modern and contemporary art, sited in Basel, Miami Beach, Hong Kong, Paris, and Qatar. Defined by its host city and region, each show is unique, which is reflected in its participating galleries, artworks presented, and the content of parallel programming produced in collaboration with local institutions for each edition. Art Basel’s engagement has expanded through new digital platforms including Zero 10 and the Art Basel App, and initiatives such as the Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report and Survey of Global Collecting, Art Basel Awards, and Art Basel Shop. For further information, please visit artbasel.com.

About Art Basel Qatar 
Debuting in Doha in February 2026, Art Basel Qatar will embed itself in Qatar’s vibrant cultural landscape and provide an unparalleled platform to showcase leading galleries and artistic talent from the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, and further afield. The new fair is the centerpiece of a one-of-a-kind partnership between Art Basel; its parent company MCH Group; Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), a major investor in sports, culture, entertainment and lifestyle; and QC+, a strategic and creative collective specializing in cultural commerce. 

About Qatar Sports Investments (QSI)
Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) is a leading, global strategic investment group focused on world-class assets across sport, entertainment, lifestyle, and culture. Founded in 2004, QSI brings hands-on expertise, innovative capital solutions, and a long-term vision to each of its investments. Its portfolio includes the iconic football club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), the global professional padel tour Premier Padel, and the historic Portuguese football club Sporting Clube de Braga (SC Braga). With a proven track record of transformative impact, QSI continues to shape the future of cultural and entertainment experiences worldwide. 

 About QC+

QC+ is a strategy group that brings culture to life through experiences that connect and inspire.

By merging cultural insight with innovation, QC+ empowers partners to unlock new revenue through impactful programs, activations, and creatively considered land development and rejuvenation projects. The group gives creatives the space, platform, and power to shape culture on their own terms. By positioning culture as a catalyst for growth, QC+ opens new pathways for value across tourism, hospitality, retail, and the wider cultural economy.

Its portfolio includes in-house brands and services such as Qatar Creates, IDAM, and celebrated Qatari chef Noof Al Marri. Initiatives span Michelin-awarded restaurants, art and design consultancy, cultural land development, experiential events, product development, and art retail.

We don’t just preserve culture - we cultivate it. This is The Art of Cultural Commerce™.

Upcoming Art Basel shows   
Qatar, February 5- 7, 2026  
Hong Kong, March 27-29, 2026
Basel, June 18–21, 2026 
Paris, October 23-25, 2026
Miami Beach, December 4-6, 2026

Media Access and Information  

Media information and images can be downloaded directly from artbasel.com/press. Journalists can subscribe to our media mailings to receive information on Art Basel.  

For the latest updates on Art Basel, visit artbasel.com, find us on Facebook at facebook.com/artbasel, or follow @artbasel on Instagram, X, LinkedIn, Threads, Weibo, and WeChat.  

Press Contacts  

Art Basel, Darah Ghanem 
press@artbasel.com

Brunswick Arts, Darrell Rocha
artbaselqatar@brunswickgroup.com

QC+, Megan Sprenger 
megan.sprenger@finnpartners.com

Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), Fiona Cumberland 
fcumberland.ext@qsi.com.qa

MCH Group, Lucia Uebersax 
media@mch-group.com