Art Basel Doha: What will the fair be like that consolidates Qatar's position as the center of the Middle East?

The conversation with director Vincenzo de Bellis began almost to safari music along a desert road in Qatar; we soon left its blinding whiteness behind and focused on the art market landscape. Since 2022, the Italian curator has been Director of Fairs and Exhibition Platforms at Art Basel in Switzerland, and a few days ago he was in Doha, conducting the local preliminary rounds for the fair, which will have its first date in February 2026. It will be the great international fair of the Middle East; but not only that. The emirate's cultural diplomacy is at its most powerful; and everything has been concentrated in just a few years. Ladies and gentlemen, this will be a game-changer, especially for India's interest.

The news of a fourth Art Basel fair in Doha—joining Basel, Miami Beach, Hong Kong, and Paris—was announced in mid-May and is part of a chain of projects and initiatives (Vision Qatar 2030) aimed at consolidating this small and powerful emirate in the Persian Gulf as the cultural center of the region, beating the United Arab Emirates, which had led the event for a decade. By the end of April, the first renderings of the national pavilion that Qatar will have at the Venice Biennale had been seen, in the Gardens, its most opulent section. With a temporary circular tent, which cites the country's nomadic tradition and is Designed by Yasmeen Lari, the final project was presented a few weeks ago at the Venice Architecture Biennale. The national pavilion will be built by Lebanese Lina Ghotmeh, a rising young architect who recently won the competition for the renovation of the British Museum's West Wing and is the designer of the Bahrain pavilion at Expo Osaka this year. This is the first to be built in the Giardini in almost 40 years —the last being South Korea's. Thus, Ghotmeh will coexist with buildings by Alvar Aalto, Sverre Fehn, and Carlo Scarpa.

De Bellis, who lives in Basel, oversees the directors from each country and is responsible for harmonizing the artistic vision of the events . "We will have a similar approach to the other fairs in Qatar," he says. "We will form a team with Qatari professionals." We asked him how this fair, the largest in the world, will be integrated with the rest of Qatar's cultural institutions, all of them newly established.

–It will be very relevant because the cultural scene in Doha is already at an incredibly high level. And what happens is that Art Basel becomes an echo chamber for local cultural events . During the Fair, it supports everything else. This is true in every city where we operate because it creates a powerful spotlight, attracting attention. At the same time, our goal is also to support the development of the art market and collecting. It's not just about Doha itself, but it truly radiates throughout this entire MENA region (Middle East and North Africa countries), which has great art, a great history. Currently, in the contemporary art world, it's not as visible as it deserves.

–What relationship will the Fair have with local galleries and the artist community?

–Both are connected. You can't create a market if you don't gain visibility for art and its artists. So, the first thing is to give visibility to art, to shed light on what's happening. Eventually, this has an impact on the market. You come from South America and you know the impact of Art Basel Miami Beach; it's a good example of how the connection between North and South America has been fundamental in promoting art. The Fair supported the growth of what was already a great history of Latin American art for centuries; in terms of the market, the presence of Art Basel gave it even more prominence. The same thing happened at Art Basel Hong Kong.

–Art Basel Hong Kong has had its ups and downs: first it exploded, then it declined. It's not as stable as Miami Beach. It's a contested time... According to USB's annual report, art sales will fall by more than 10 percent in 2024.

–There's a clarification here. It depends on whether we're talking about the market, or what the Fair mobilizes within the cultural ecosystem, including the market. The market is impacted by several other factors, which of course have to do with the geopolitical economy, which we don't necessarily influence. As for the Fair, what we're influencing the Asian artist community through Hong Kong continues to grow. The synergy the Fair creates with the museum system and other entities is vital.

–Who is the main audience for this Art Basel?

– Historically, each fair we organize has a core audience: the region where it takes place. Our goal is clearly to have the majority of the audience come from the region, but the brand is global.

–Where did Egyptian and Gulf monarchy collectors shop before?

–Some people buy at local fairs, but we've identified a potential market that hasn't yet begun collecting . This is one of the main objectives of our market development strategies.

–Do you also consider collectors from India, for example? It's a huge market, and the other Art Basel venues are very far away.

–Absolutely. And there are other connections with this part of the world. There's a population from Central Asia and MENA interested in experiencing the Gulf. But to be honest, many people from Europe and America might not know much about what's happening here. And that's why we want to show them this scene.

–Any idea of ​​how many regional artists you'll have, versus established international artists?

–It's still early to make that assessment, but we want to shed light on artists from the region and beyond. Numerous artists have been influenced by the region, even those who don't live here. It doesn't mean it will be exclusively linked to local art. We must find a balance and dialogue between what the specific region offers, but also what's being produced around the world.

–Any estimates of the ratio of emerging to established artists?

–Not all of them will be renowned artists. And there's definitely a strong interest in a grassroots approach with artists from the region. It's interesting to draw this comparison with Art Basel Miami Beach. If you look at the number of emerging galleries or emerging artists from South America or Mexico who have come to Basel Miami as their first moment of visibility, it's massive. Our greatest success would be to give these artists the opportunity to shine in Doha and then consolidate their presence in the rest of the world.

–The Doha event is multifaceted and takes place simultaneously in various venues. How does Art Basel connect with the Qatar pavilion at the Biennale?

–It's not strictly related, but it's another example of how visionary and ambitious the Qatar Museums institution is. And it confirms the leadership of Sheika Al Mayassa Al Thani, who is behind all these initiatives. Several museums will open in the coming years, including a car museum. The art museums are the Lusail Museum , which will be located on the southern tip of the island and will house a collection of oriental art, and the Art Mills Museum. The first will be built by the Swiss studio Herzog & de Meuron; the second by Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena. These museums will be built in stages until 2030. Qatar already has the National Museum, built by Jean Nouvel, the Museum of Islamic Art by I.M. Pei, and the Mathaf Museum, which will be expanded by Lina Ghotmeh. This Lebanese architect, trained in Beirut and designer of the Estonian National Museum, will also design the Qatari pavilion in Venice. All of this combined shows a fantastic vision, I have no other words for it, very inspiring for us. And the way they're building it, with the idea of ​​claiming a space for their own culture. For me, it's been incredibly compelling; it will be a great marriage between Qatar and Art Basel.

–The Islamic sphere has its own coordinates regarding images; the theme of representation is explicit in the Quran. Are there limits in terms of aesthetics or content?

–Our rule for every fair is that Art Basel obeys the laws of the country. So, anything legally visible will have no limits. Anything that might violate the local laws will not be allowed. These are the rules tested at every fair, and we will maintain the same regulations.

–Most of the art produced today in the Western world can be perceived in the Middle East as grotesque or as an incitement to political action. It's not a matter of judgment. Nudity, homosexuality, and queer and trans aesthetics, immigration, ecological denunciation—those are issues of censorship, but of the audience and its perspective.

–Personally, I think we need to consider, for each trade show, what is culturally appropriate in the countries where we operate. And that's also true for the United States and Hong Kong. It's always worked well.