Interrupting in the Middle East, Art Basel will open a fair in Doha

Art Basel is expanding again.

Next year, the Art Fair based in Switzerland will open an edition in Doha, the capital of Qatar. “We are starting small,” says Art Basel CEO, Noah Horowitz. “This will come to the market in February next year in a very considered and measured way.”

The opening fair, says Horowitz, will include cabins of approximately 50 galleries. This will be the fifth World Basel World Fair, and will mark its first presence in the region. (Its existing fairs are found in Hong Kong, Miami, Paris and in the original Switzerland location, so the brand is named). In each place, an international list of galleries meets an equally global group of collectors and professionals from the art world, who walk for several days in Amid Opening, dinners and parties.

The new fair is an association between Art Basel, Qatar Sports Investments and QC+, an organization that describes itself as a “strategic and creative collective.” The fair will take place in the District of Design Doha in the center of Msheireb.

“As part of the highness of the National Vision 2030 of the AMIR, Qatar has become a knowledge -based economy, with the culture and creative industries that help lead the way,” Sheikha wrote to Mayassa Bint Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, president of the Qatar museums, in a statement.

“As Qatar museums marks its twentieth anniversary, we are pleased to welcome the Art Basel organization as our partner to further elevate Qatar initiatives to support the creative industries of our region, offering new exceptional artistic experiences for our talent.”

The news comes at a delicate time for art fairs and the art market in general. A recent Market report by Art Basel and UBS detailed the fall in the participation of the gallery in art fairs in 2024, due, at least in part, to the increase in costs. In addition, the report found that the art market had become more regional, which hinders the great art fairs that depend on global assistance.

But Horowitz says the moment is correct. “It is an extraordinary opportunity to bow and open, in a really substantial way, a new way for our clients to develop relationships and support the progression of their artists' careers,” he says. It is also, continues, a way to “help accelerate and transmit more, the incredible investment and infrastructure that our partners have been doing locally.”