{"id":7737,"date":"2026-02-15T16:21:43","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T16:21:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/7737\/"},"modified":"2026-02-15T16:21:43","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T16:21:43","slug":"art-basel-qatar-to-launch-in-february-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/7737\/","title":{"rendered":"Art Basel Qatar to Launch in February 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tArt Basel<\/a>, which operates four fairs wordwild, said today that it would partner with Qatar Sports Investments<\/a> (QSI) and QC+ to launch a fair in Doha next February, marking the first major art fair in the Middle East. The news of this fair comes about a month before Art Basel\u2019s Swiss fair will open its doors.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cGrowing the global art market, supporting artists and galleries and developing new collecting audiences is core to Art Basel\u2019s mission,\u201d Art Basel CEO Noah Horowitz said in a statement, noting the exponential growth of the region\u2019s art scene. \u201cQatar\u2019s depth of collections, history of building great cultural institutions and unique role as an incubator and supporter of talent position the new Art Basel Qatar<\/a> for success on the world stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tRelated Articles<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"People<\/p>\n

\n\tThe inaugural edition of Art Basel Qatar will aim to provide \u201can unparalleled platform to showcase leading galleries and artistic talent from the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and further afield,\u201d according to a release.<\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to a spokesperson, the first few editions will feature \u201ca tightly curated selection of approximately 50 galleries.\u201d That figure is significantly smaller than Art Basel\u2019s other fairs, which range on the low end from around 195 (Paris) to 291 (Basel), per the most recently announced exhibitor lists. \u201cThis approach is designed to respond to today\u2019s market while laying the foundation for future growth,\u201d the spokesperson added.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe fair will be staged at M7, a creative hub in the Doha Design District that also is the venue for an artist residency. A director overseeing the fair, who will report to Art Basel\u2019s director of shows and exhibition platforms Vincenzo de Bellis, is to be announced in the coming months, as are the details for the application period and full exhibitor list.<\/p>\n

The launch of the fair is part of the country\u2019s larger National Vision 2030 initiative, which includes a strong cultural component. Among the most-high profile of the projects falling under this umbrella is the creation of a permanent national pavilion for the country in the Giardini for the Venice Biennale. In addition to its existing five national museums, Qatar Museums<\/a> has plans for three additional museums to open by 2030, including the Art Mill Museum and the Lusail Museum.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAs part of His Highness the Amir\u2019s National Vision 2030, Qatar has been transforming itself into a knowledge-based economy, with culture and the creative industries helping to lead the way,\u201d Sheikha Al Mayassa Bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the chairperson of Qatar Museums, said in a statement. \u201cAs Qatar Museums marks its twentieth anniversary, we are pleased to welcome the Art Basel organisation as our partner to further elevate Qatar\u2019s initiatives to support the creative industries of our region, offering exceptional new artistic experiences and opportunities to our talent.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tQSI was a driving force in bringing the 2022 World Cup to Qatar. As part of the sports festivities<\/a> that year, the Qatar Museums organized a slate<\/a> of 40 new and commissioned public art works installed throughout Doha, including pieces by Yayoi Kusama, Rashid Johnson, Damien Hirst, Katharina Fritsch, Simone Fattal, Richard Serra, and KAWS.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cQSI is very proud and excited to play a role in bringing the world-renowned Art Basel fair to Qatar and our region as part of the legacy of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022,\u201d QSI chairman Nasser Al-Khela\u00effi said in a statement. \u201cAs that event demonstrated so unforgettably, sports and culture are closely linked in their capacity to unite people and bring the world together, which is at the heart of QSI\u2019s mission. We are delighted to work with QC+ and to welcome Art Basel to Qatar\u2014a partnership that will inspire the region and bring further investment to a great cultural organisation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn his statement, Horowitz added, \u201cWe are compelled by Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani\u2019s singular vision for the arts ecosystem in Qatar, and we share a commitment to supporting artists in realising their highest potential. We are equally energised by the opportunities unlocked by our collaboration with QSI and QC+ to create new touchpoints for the broadest possible audiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAt the moment, the region\u2019s main fair is Art Dubai<\/a>, held each April. Of the 120 galleries that participated this year, only a few were blue-chip enterprises based outside the region, including Bortolami, Perrotin, Almine Rech, and Waddington Custot. As Pablo del Val, the fair\u2019s artistic director, told ARTnews<\/a>, \u201cThis is not a market for trophies. It\u2019s not about fighting to win the waiting list.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tArt Basel Qatar touching down next year will almost certainly change that dynamic.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Qatar fair will be Art Basel\u2019s fifth fair internationally. Founded in 1960, Art Basel has run its marquee fair in Basel, Switzerland, for the past 65 years. Its international expansion began in the new millennium, with the launch of Art Basel Miami Beach in 2002. (The fair was delayed a year by 9\/11.)<\/p>\n

\n\tAbout a decade later, the fair began looking toward East Asia, acquiring a 60-percent stake in the Art HK fair in 2011. By the fair\u2019s 2013 edition, Art Basel had acquired it outright, rebranding it as Art Basel Hong Kong. The most recent addition to its portfolio came in early 2022, when news broke<\/a> that Art Basel had successfully bid on the October dates of the Grand Palais that hometown fair FIAC had held for years. It launched later that year. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a statement, Andrea Zappia, Chairman and Group CEO at MCH Group, Art Basel\u2019s parent company, said, \u201cWe are committed to Art Basel\u2019s growth and following the launch of Art Basel Paris in 2022 we are ready to add a fifth fair to our exclusive and successful portfolio. MCH Group, owner of Art Basel, is committed to contributing unique resources and capabilities to this partnership to ensure its long-term success.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Art Basel, which operates four fairs wordwild, said today that it would partner with Qatar Sports Investments (QSI)…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7738,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1377,266,77,1468,6052],"class_list":{"0":"post-7737","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basel","8":"tag-art-basel","9":"tag-art-basel-qatar","10":"tag-basel","11":"tag-qatar-museums","12":"tag-qatar-sports-investments"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7737\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}