During Art Basel in Basel, Wassan Al-Khudhairi offered a closer look at the thinking behind between / بين, the curatorial theme for Art Basel Qatar 2027.
Speaking at the Qatar Lounge, she discussed the fair’s next edition, which will take place in Doha from 28 to 30 January 2027, with Preview Days on 26 and 27 January. The fair will return to Doha Design District and M7 in Msheireb Downtown Doha. Born in Kuwait to Iraqi parents and now based in New York, Al-Khudhairi will lead the edition as Artistic Director.
Wassan Al-Khudhairi at the Qatar lounge in Basel, Photo: Yuki Kos
Al-Khudhairi described between as “a state that is not fixed, but a state that is in between many things.”
The word is simple, but deliberately open. It may suggest relationships between local and international perspectives, tradition and contemporary practice, public institutions and private collecting. It also carries a sense of movement across generations, geographies and points of view, which feels relevant to a fair still defining its place in Doha.
The theme follows Becoming, the curatorial framework chosen by Wael Shawky for the inaugural edition. Shawky, the Egyptian artist and Director of Qatar Museums’ Fire Station: Artist-in-Residence Programme, shaped the first edition. He described that first presentation as “a statement” intended to reduce the gap between artists and the art market, and to keep artists more connected within it.
The inaugural edition gave the fair a distinct character. Through its curated format of focused solo presentations, it offered an alternative to the conventional booth-led model and placed individual artistic voices at the centre. In 2027, gallery presentations will again take the form of solo showcases, while the Special Projects sector is also set to expand.
Doha Design District, Courtesy Art Basel
Al-Khudhairi’s relationship with Qatar gives her appointment particular resonance. Before taking on this role, she was closely associated with Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, where she served as founding director from 2007 to 2012. Speaking in Basel, she described her return as “a bit of a full-circle moment.”
Asked what continues to draw her to Qatar, Al-Khudhairi pointed to the country’s “long-time commitment to the arts and collecting”. In conversations about the Gulf, attention often turns to new buildings, scale and investment. Her answer pointed instead to collecting, continuity and a cultural commitment built over time.
How galleries respond to between / بين will become clearer in the months ahead. For now, what emerged in Basel was a sense that Art Basel Qatar is entering its second edition with clearer direction, while continuing to develop a format rooted in focused artistic presentations.
For any young fair, the second edition is more revealing than the first. The first year declares an intention. The second begins to show whether that intention can hold. For Art Basel Qatar, that question now begins to take shape in Doha.
