Art Basel Qatar 2026 Inaugural Fair Showcases MENASA Artists In Doha

The inaugural edition of Art Basel Qatar is open to the public in Doha until Saturday, February 7, bringing together 87 international exhibitors and the work of 84 artists, more than half from across the MENASA region, alongside a citywide program of special projects and cultural events.

Exhibition Overview

Art Basel Qatar is staged across the M7 creative hub and the Doha Design District in Msheireb Downtown Doha. The fair is organized primarily around solo artist presentations, offering focused displays of work by a diverse roster of international and regional artists.

Participating artists include Etel Adnan, Sarah Almehairi, Olga de Amaral, Alvaro Barrington, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Marlene Dumas, Philip Guston, Mona Hatoum, Hassan Khan, MARWAN, Bruce Nauman, Shirin Neshat, Matthew Wong, and Issy Wood, reflecting a wide spectrum of practices from the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, and beyond.

Visiting Information

Tickets for the fair are reported to be in high demand, as visitors seek to experience this new chapter in Doha’s cultural landscape at its debut edition.

For admission details and availability, visitors can buy tickets online in advance of their visit.

Special Projects Program

Running alongside the core fair, Art Basel Qatar presents a Special Projects program that features ten large-scale, site-specific works installed across key cultural venues and public spaces in Doha. The program spans sculptures, installations, performances, and moving-image works, extending the fair’s footprint beyond the main exhibition halls.

Among the highlights is a new site-responsive work by Jenny Holzer, presented in collaboration with Visit Qatar, the fair’s Lead Partner, at Doha’s Museum of Islamic Art. The project includes text-based light projections across the museum’s main facade and inner courtyard, as well as a choreographed performance of more than 700 drones in the night sky.

A full overview of the ten commissions and installations can be found in the fair’s online program, where visitors can see projects in detail and plan their visit across the different sites.

Doha’s Cultural Context

The fair takes place against the backdrop of an extensive cultural infrastructure developed by Qatar Museums. During Art Basel Qatar, visitors can explore major institutions including the Museum of Islamic Art and the National Museum of Qatar, as well as a growing collection of public artworks across the country.

Among the best-known outdoor works are Richard Serra’s East-West/West-East, a monumental installation in the Brouq Nature Reserve, and Olafur Eliasson’s Shadows Travelling on the Sea of the Day, which extends the artist’s long-standing engagement with perception and landscape.

In addition, the National Museum of Qatar is hosting the exhibition Making Doha, co-curated by architects Rem Koolhaas and Samir Bantal. The show traces the development of Doha’s urban landscape and architectural identity, offering visitors further context for the city’s evolving role as a regional cultural hub.

Visitors can browse events taking place across Doha during the fair to complement their gallery visits.

Highlighted Works And Credits

Works presented at Art Basel Qatar 2026 include Marwan’s Licht, 1973, shown by Sfeir-Semler Gallery; Milton Avery’s Rainbow, 1959, presented by Karma; Lynda Benglis’s Elephant Necklace Circle, 2016, shown by Pace Gallery; and Matthew Wong’s LETTER TO SOUTINE, 2019, presented by MASSIMODECARLO, courtesy of the Matthew Wong Foundation, MASSIMODECARLO, and Bueno & Co, New York.

Jenny Holzer’s SONG, 2026, is presented as a light projection at the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, incorporating the text “I Belong There” by Mahmoud Darwish, used with permission from the Mahmoud Darwish Foundation. Olafur Eliasson’s Shadows Travelling on the Sea of the Day, 2026, is on view courtesy of the artist and Qatar Museums.

Fair Background

Art Basel Qatar is presented in partnership with Qatar Sports Investments and QC+, reflecting ongoing collaboration between the international fair brand and local institutions to develop Doha as a global platform for contemporary art.

Further information about the fair, its exhibitors, and programs is available on the official Art Basel website.

By ML. Photo(s)/Art Basel