Art Basel Qatar 2027: In the Space 'between'
There is a particular quality to the light in Msheireb Downtown Doha in late January — low, golden, suspended between day and evening. It is a fitting setting for the second edition of Art Basel Qatar, which returns from January 28 to 30, 2027 (Preview Days: January 26–27), and for a fair that has chosen, as its guiding theme, the fertile territory of the in-between.
Art Basel has now unveiled the exhibitors for the 2027 edition: 82 galleries from 37 countries and territories, each presenting a single artist — 80 new single-artist presentations in all — across M7 and the Doha Design District. Presented in partnership with Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) and QC+, with Visit Qatar as Lead Partner, the fair deepens the proposition that made its debut so distinctive: not a forest of booths, but a constellation of solo statements in dialogue.
Aref El Rayess, Technologie et revolution ou L'Enfer des maudits (Blood and Freedom series). Courtesy of the estate of the artist and Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Beirut / Hamburg
A Theme That Refuses to Settle
Every presentation responds to 'between / بين' — a theme that treats the condition of being between not as a gap to be closed, but as a place to inhabit: a generative space of encounter, exchange and fluidity that declines any singular definition.
The theme was conceived under the artistic direction of Wassan Al-Khudhairi, the Iraqi curator whose relationship with Qatar's art ecology runs deep — she was the founding director of Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, which opened in Doha in 2010 — working in collaboration with Vincenzo de Bellis, Chief Artistic Officer and Global
Director of Art Basel Fairs. Al-Khudhairi succeeds artist Wael Shawky, who shaped the curatorial vision of the inaugural edition.
Dana Awartani, May your tears never dry, you who weep over stones, 2026. Courtesy of the Visual Arts Commission, Ministry of Culture of Saudi Arabia. Photography by Alvise Busetto
The Region at the Centre
The numbers tell their own story. Approximately 50 percent of the artists presented hail from the MENASA region, and more than a third of the participating galleries operate spaces in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia — a composition that reaffirms the fair's ambition to support long-term market development in the region, rather than simply visiting it.
Artists and Galleries to Watch
The first selection of highlights moves fluidly between generations and geographies: Yazan Khalili with Lawrie Shabibi (Dubai); Vian Sora with The Third Line (Dubai); Seher Shah with Green Art Gallery (Dubai); Dana Awartani with Chemould Prescott Road (Mumbai); Monira Al Qadiri with Contemporary Art Platform (Kuwait City); Aref El Rayess with Sfeir-Semler Gallery (Beirut, Hamburg); Pacita Abad with Silverlens (Manila, New York); and Oscar Murillo with David Zwirner. They are joined by some of the international circuit's defining names — Acquavella Galleries with Andy Warhol, Gagosian with Maurizio Cattelan, Lisson Gallery with Anish Kapoor, White Cube with Park Seo-Bo, Tornabuoni Art with Lucio Fontana, Sprüth Magers with Rosemarie Trockel, neugerriemschneider with Rirkrit Tiravanija, and Matthew Marks Gallery with Ken Price.
Oscar Murillo, Disrupted frequencies (Egypt, United States, Brazil, Malaysia, China, Slovenia, Italy, Singapore, Indonesia), 2013–2025. © Oscar Murillo. Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner
Beyond the Fair Days
Perhaps the most consequential announcement is the quietest. Art Basel is launching a year-round market development programme in Qatar, designed to deepen collector engagement and strengthen conditions for galleries between editions. At its heart is the Collectors Majlis, an invite-only pilot masterclass programme for a cohort of approximately 30 to 40 new, emerging, and art-adjacent collectors — an investment in the ecosystem itself, in the belief that a fair's true measure is what it leaves behind.
Vincenzo de Bellis and Wassan Al-Khudhairi. Courtesy of Art Basel
Information
Art Basel Qatar
January 28–30, 2027 (Preview Days: January 26–27)
M7 and Doha Design District, Msheireb Downtown Doha
