Susan Washington

_Photo Julius Hirtzberger/Courtesy Art Basel._

Art Basel will make its Middle East debut on February 5-7, 2026 (preview days February 3-4) with a new fair in Doha, Qatar. Staged inside the M7 creative hub in Doha’s Msheireb Design District, the event will host around 50 galleries, each presenting a solo artist within a unified curatorial framework titled “Becoming.” The format marks a sharp departure from Basel’s sprawling trade-floor model, leaning closer to the focus and pacing of a biennial.

This move is decades in the making. Gulf nations have poured resources into building world-class museums, biennials, and public collections. Yet when it comes to the global commercial art market, the region is still considered an emerging player.




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#### So why does Basel think it can change that?  

The fair arrives in partnership with Qatar Creates (Qatar Museums’ cultural platform) and Qatar Sports Investments, with Egyptian artist Wael Shawky as Artistic Director. It’s a compact, high-stakes model, fewer galleries mean more visibility, but also greater pressure to deliver.

**_“We have spent 20 years investing in the software, by which I mean human development, and the hardware, that is building museums. Now we can take our talent, our creatives in the Arab world, to the industry. And Art Basel is the most important platform in the world,”_** said Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chairperson of Qatar Museums.

The format is equally strategic: no mega-gallery floorplans, no sprawling aisles. Instead, each gallery will anchor its presence within the fair’s curatorial theme,  what Basel’s Global Director of Fairs Vincenzo de Bellis calls “a new blueprint for what an art fair can be.”


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From conversations we’ve had with gallerists, anticipation comes with curiosity. Basel’s brand commands attention anywhere it lands, but Doha’s market will require more than prestige. Galleries that succeed here will need cultural fluency, patience, and long-term relationships with Gulf institutions and collectors.

The question now is not whether Basel can draw the world’s attention - it’s how this new chapter might shape the future of the Middle East’s role in the global art market.


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The world’s most powerful art fair heads to Doha in 2026 - can it reshape the region’s commercial art landscape?


Desert Debut: Can Art Basel Redefine the Middle East’s Art Market?

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