Inaugural Art Basel Qatar opens, launching new chapter for the global fair

Doha: Art Basel yesterday opened its first ever fair in the MENASA region (Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia), marking a significant new chapt...

Doha: Art Basel yesterday opened its first-ever fair in the MENASA region (Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia), marking a significant new chapter in its global evolution and for the international art market. Art Basel Qatar, presented in partnership with Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) and QC+, takes place across Msheireb Downtown Doha and runs through February 7.

The inaugural edition of Art Basel Qatar brings together 87 international galleries, presenting the work of 84 artists-- more than half of whom hail from across the MENASA region. Taking place across M7 and the Doha Design District in Msheireb Downtown Doha, the fair is structured around solo artist presentations rather than a traditional booth model, offering a more open and focused way to experience the work on view. Under the artistic leadership of Vincenzo de Bellis, Art Basel’s Chief Artistic Officer and Global Director of Fairs, and Wael Shawky, Artistic Director of the inaugural edition, the fair is shaped by the theme Becoming, reflecting a format designed to encourage deeper engagement and to grow in dialogue with its context over time.

On the eve of the fair’s first VIP Preview Day, Art Basel and Visit Qatar, the fair’s Lead Partner, celebrated by unveiling SONG, a new site-responsive work by Jenny Holzer and the tenth work in the fair’s Special Projects program, at a welcome event at Doha’s Museum of Islamic Art (MIA). The work activated the museum through two simultaneous projections across the main façade and inner courtyard, accompanied by a single, choreographed performance of over 700 drones in the night sky.

Using poems by Mahmoud Darwish, the celebrated Palestinian poet whose lyrical voice has profoundly shaped modern Arabic literature, and NujoomAlghanem, the acclaimed Emirati poet and filmmaker known for her intimate and incisive writing, Holzer brings Arabic and English text into public space as illumination, rhythm, and interruption. Following its debut, the work remains on view to the public nightly as a projection on the museum’s main façade throughout the fair.

Art Basel Qatar is open for Preview and Public Days from February 3 – 7.