SONG Over Doha: Art Basel Qatar Begins with Poetry in Motion

This week is quite monumental for Doha's cultural landcape. The opening of Art Basel Qatar,the first Art Basel fair in the MENASA region, and a significant turning point for the global art map.

Set across Msheireb Downtown Doha, the inaugural edition brings together 87 international exhibitors presenting the work of 84 artists, more than half of whom come from across the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia. Rather than following the traditional booth format, the fair unfolds through solo artist presentations, creating a slower, more deliberate way of encountering art. The result feels less transactional and more contemplative, inviting visitors to spend time with individual practices instead of moving quickly from stand to stand.

Guided by Artistic Director Wael Shawky alongside Art Basel’s Chief Artistic Officer Vincenzo de Bellis, the fair is shaped around the theme Becoming — a framework that speaks to transformation, identity, and growth, both personal and collective. It’s a fitting lens for a region whose creative voices are increasingly stepping onto the world stage on their own terms.

On the eve of the opening, the fair’s ambition was made unmistakably clear at Museum of Islamic Art, where artist Jenny Holzer unveiled SONG, a monumental site responsive work projected across the museum’s façade and inner courtyard, accompanied by a choreographed performance of over 700 drones lighting up the night sky.

Drawing on poetry by Mahmoud Darwish and Nujoom Alghanem, Holzer transformed Arabic and English text into light, rhythm, and interruption, bringing language into public space as both beauty and provocation. The piece continues to appear nightly throughout the fair, offering a powerful reminder of poetry’s ability to hold history, grief, hope, and resistance all at once.

Presented in partnership with Qatar Sports Investments and QC+, with Visit Qatar as Lead Partner, Art Basel Qatar feels less like an imported format and more like a platform designed in conversation with its surroundings. It responds to Qatar’s long standing investment in culture, museums, and creative infrastructure, while opening new pathways between regional artists and Art Basel’s global ecosystem.

Beyond its scale, intention is what sets this fair apart. By privileging solo presentations and multi site experiences, Art Basel Qatar proposes a different future for art fairs, one that balances commerce with context, and visibility with depth. It is a model that allows artists to present complete ideas rather than fragments, and audiences to engage with work beyond the rush of acquisition.

For Doha, this marks another step in its evolution as a cultural capital. For the MENASA region, it represents something larger: recognition, connectivity, and a long overdue centering of voices that have always been here, creating, questioning, and imagining.

Art Basel Qatar runs through 7 February, with preview days on 3 and 4 February. More than a fair, it feels like the beginning of a conversation, rooted in place, poetry, and possibility.