Wael Shawky Announced as Artistic Director of Art Basel Qatar

Egyptian artist set to lead the first Qatar fair

In perhaps a surprising move, Art Basel Qatar has just announced Egyptian artist Wael Shawky as the fair’s inaugural artistic director. As an artist, Shawky will be the first director of any Art Basel fair to not come from the commercial side of the art world.

Shawky is one of the leading Arab artists of his generation, having exhibited at the Venice Biennale, Tate Modern, and MoMA PS1 amongst many others. “I think it’s important to involve the artist in this”, says Shawky to ARTnews, “To involve the artist somehow in the mechanism of making something amazing like an art fair that is shaping the professional art market in the region.” Shawky has a deep understanding of the MENA region, and it is encouraging that the fair will be led by someone living and working in Doha. In September 2025, Shawky will also begin the role of Artistic Director of Doha Fire Station, having launched the Arts Intensive Study Program (AISP) which encourages hands-on learning, critical thinking and professional development to 20 emerging Qatari and international artists. Shawky has further explained that: “The opportunity to explore artistic practices from across the MENA region and beyond, within a framework that values research, narrative, and experimentation, is extremely meaningful to me.”

For its first edition, Art Basel Qatar will move away from a booth-centric model in favour of a curatorial-led approach, spanning Qatar’s M7, Doha Design District and public installations around Doha’s Msheireb. Interestingly, the booths will be all priced equally and all be similar in size. The fair will be themed “Becoming”, with galleries presenting solo presentations by artists responding to what has been described as “a meditation on humanity’s ongoing transformation and the evolving systems that shape how we live, believe, and create meaning.” The theme has been chosen with the intention of positioning the Gulf as a dynamic cultural landscape where ancient trade routes are reimagined as contemporary flows of culture and capital, with digital networks intersecting with oral traditions.

Shawky will collaborate with Art Basel’s Chief Artistic Officer and Global Director of Fairs, Vincenzo de Bellis in the lead up to the fair. In his role as Artistic Director, Shawky will steer the gallery selection and curatorial direction together with a Selection Committee of international and local names within the contemporary art world. The local committee members include Athr Gallery’s Mohammed Hafiz and The Third Line’s Sunny Rahbar.

In addition to his roles at Art Basel Qatar and Doha Fire Station, Shawky is currently exhibiting internationally too, with solo shows at LUMA Arles in France, the Talbot Rice Gallery in Scotland, and MMCA Gwacheon in South Korea. With a rich multidisciplinary practice, we’re eager to see how he leads Art Basel Qatar.

The inaugural edition of Art Basel Qatar will take place between 5-7 February 2026