Art Basel Qatar Returns With 82 Galleries and a Theme Called 'Between'

By Daniel Okafor

Art Basel Qatar returns for its second edition on January 28-30, with 82 galleries from 37 countries spread across three venues in Msheireb Downtown Doha: Barahat Msheireb, M7, and Doha Design District. Half of the featured artists come from the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia. More than a third of the galleries operate in those regions.

The fair's backers are not being shy about intent. Art Basel Qatar has signed Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), QC+, and Visit Qatar as official partners, with a stated mission to "deepen collector relationships, support galleries, and sustain momentum between editions." That last phrase is doing quiet work. Regional fairs live or die by what happens in the eleven months between booths.

This month the fair launches "Collectors Majlis," a program aimed at local and international collectors, galleries, and institutions. It offers:

• master classes and workshops
• invitation-led community encounters
• cultural experiences and collection visits

A majlis, for the uninitiated, is a traditional Arab sitting room where business and conversation mix. The metaphor is on the nose. It is also rather apt.

Who is directing the fair?

Iraqi artistic director Wassan Al-Khudhairi leads the edition, having been announced in May to steer the fair into its second chapter. The theme is "between." "For me, the theme between is a liminal space of possibility, where different perspectives, histories and ideas meet and new ways of seeing emerge," Al-Khudhairi said in a statement. She added that the aim was to bring "together artists across generations and at different stages of their careers."

Al-Khudhairi is collaborating with Vincenzo de Bellis, chief artistic officer and global director of fairs at Art Basel. Each gallery booth will again feature a solo presentation, as it did last year.

Which galleries are coming?

The newcomer list reads like a regional map. First-time participants include:

• Efie Gallery (Dubai)
• Iyad Qanazea (Abu Dhabi)
• Le LAB Gallery (Giza)
• Alhosh Gallery (Doha)
• Contemporary Art Platform (Kuwait)
• Dastan Gallery (Tehran, Toronto)

They join the heavy hitters: Sprüth Magers (Berlin), Lisson Gallery and White Cube (London), David Zwirner and Gagosian (New York), The Breeder (Athens), and Sadie Coles HQ (London).

What support do galleries get?

Art Basel is repeating the subsidies it offered at the inaugural edition. The package includes customs clearance, in-country transportation, consolidated storage and installation services, hotel accommodation for up to two staff members, and travel and hotel costs for exhibiting artists. The fair will also cover 50 percent of outbound shipping costs for unsold works, capped at $20,000 per gallery. Art Basel frames all this as flexibility on cost control and a "commitment to supporting galleries and contributing to the long-term development of the art market in the region." Shipping unsold inventory home is a real cost; subsidizing it is a real signal.

What else is on in Doha?

Like Frieze London and Art Basel Paris, the fair will coincide with exhibitions across the city. "What Lingers in the Artist Mind: Experiments and Legacies of the Baghdad Modern Art Group" runs at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art until February 6, 2027. "Bu'ed Nadhar" continues at Liwan Design Studios and Labs through January 31, 2027.

The wager, in short: a fair that pays its galleries' freight and keeps collectors talking between editions might just build the momentum its partners keep promising.