Art Basel Qatar highlights: New chapter for region | Daily Sabah
by FUNDA KARAYEL
Feb 06, 2026 11:01 am
Being in Doha right now feels like witnessing the start of something new, as Art Basel Qatar quietly reshapes what an art fair can be
The Qatar art scene is now on the world map and I’m here to explore both the city and this historic first edition of Art Basel Qatar. The fair has just taken place across multiple venues in Msheireb and Doha Design District, bringing together 87 galleries in a format very different from what we’re used to. Smaller, more focused, more intimate. No classic booths, no crowded stands. Instead, open spaces, museum-like layouts and benches where you sit, think and really look.
“Turkish Military Drone Rugs” by Halil Altındere is on display at the Art Basel Qatar, Doha, Qatar, Feb. 5, 2026. (Photo by Funda Karayel)
Art Basel Qatar has officially departed from convention. Each gallery was asked to present only one artist. The result is a calmer, deeper experience. You’re not rushing. You’re not flipping through art. You’re entering worlds. The theme of the first edition is “Becoming” a meditation on humanity’s ongoing transformation and the systems that shape how we live, believe and create meaning. It’s about change, identity, and the future. And you feel it in every room. From the very first day, the atmosphere was electric. David Beckham was here. Angelina Jolie was here. But beyond the celebrities, what really stood out was the focus on ideas. This fair is not about spectacle. It’s about thought. About context. About slowing down.
Angelina Jolie (L) attends and explores Halil Altındere’s “Turkish Military Drone Rugs” at Art Basel Qatar, Doha, Qatar, Feb. 5, 2026. (Photo by Funda Karayel)
Halil Altındere – PILOT Gallery
One of the strongest presences from Türkiye at Art Basel Qatar comes from PILOT Gallery with a solo presentation by Halil Altındere. His works hit you quietly but powerfully. “MOBESE” the golden surveillance camera, turns control into an object of desire. You’re staring at fear, polished and glorified. His “Turkish Military Drone Rugs” combine war technology with the ancient language of carpets. They’re made by machines, not hands. No human touch. Just systems. Just optimization. And that’s exactly the point. In his miniature works like “Star Wars: Royal Hunt and Old Battles,” “New Protocols,” and “Ottoman,” visual language meets sci-fi and modern warfare. Past and future collapse into one frame.
“Turkish Military Drone Rugs” by Halil Altındere is on display at the Art Basel Qatar, Doha, Qatar, Feb. 5, 2026. (Photo by Funda Karayel)
Kutluğ Ataman’s ‘The Stream’
Kutluğ Ataman’s presence is quieter but emotionally intense. His work doesn’t shout. It stays with you. Identity, memory, belonging, inner worlds. You don’t just look at his pieces, you feel them. In the middle of all this global noise, Ataman’s work asks you to listen to your own voice.
Highlights
Athr Gallery shows Ahmed Mater’s photographic survey of Makkah as a living, expanding organism. Not fixed, not frozen, but constantly transforming.
An artwork from Art Basel Qatar, Doha, Qatar, Feb. 5, 2026. (Photo by Funda Karayel)
Galerie Chantal Crousel presents Mona Hatoum with works on exposure, protection and constraint. David Zwirner brings Marlene Dumas and the emotional weight of conflict and memory. Pace Gallery shows Lynda Benglis with sculptural gestures frozen into form.
A general view of Art Basel Qatar, Doha, Qatar, Feb. 5, 2026. (Photo by Funda Karayel)
Qatar museums, city
Art Basel Qatar isn’t alone. Across the city, Qatar Museums is presenting major exhibitions. From Richard Serra in the desert to Olafur Eliasson by the sea. From I.M. Pei retrospectives to experimental performances in MIA Park. Doha feels like one big open exhibition right now.
A general view of Art Basel Qatar, Doha, Qatar, Feb. 5, 2026. (Photo by Funda Karayel)
Being here feels like standing at the beginning of something. This isn’t just a fair. It’s a statement. Qatar is not following the art world. It’s shaping its own path inside it. Slower. Deeper. More thoughtful. Art Basel Qatar didn’t try to impress. It tried to mean something.
And it did.
Funda Karayel attends Art Basel Qatar, Doha, Qatar, Feb. 5, 2026. (Photo by Funda Karayel)
Holzer surprise in Doha’s sky
On the eve of Art Basel Qatar’s first VIP Preview Day, Doha’s Museum of Islamic Art was transformed by a surprise intervention by the conceptual art icon Jenny Holzer. Guests began to arrive at 9 p.m. at the landmark building designed by I.M. Pei. At 9:35 p.m., the lights were dimmed to unveil the 10th project in Art Basel Qatar’s Special Projects program: a choreographed moment combining two simultaneous projections of poetry – one across the museum’s main façade and another in its inner courtyard – accompanied by a breathtaking performance of over 700 drones that unfolded in the night sky. Titled “SONG (2026),” the new site-responsive work was commissioned by Art Basel Qatar for its inaugural edition.
A visitor explores Art Basel Qatar, Doha, Qatar, Feb. 5, 2026. (Photo by Funda Karayel)
Presenting poems by Mahmoud Darwish, the late Palestinian poet whose lyrical voice has shaped modern Arabic literature, and Nujoom Alghanem, the acclaimed Emirati poet and filmmaker known for her intimate, incisive writing, Holzer brings Arabic and English text into public space as illumination, rhythm and interruption. Moving between intimacy and monumentality, ”SONG” transforms architecture into a temporary field of light and language – a fleeting chorus of words across stone, air, and sky – inviting audiences to pause, read, and reflect together. The full configuration lasted 15 minutes, a momentary spectacle that marked a confident beginning for Art Basel Qatar and the year ahead.
KEYWORDS
qatar
art basel qatar
doha
exhibition
halil altındere
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