As part of its continued bid to become a major art center, Qatar will launch a quadrennial in November 2026.
The first edition, titled “Unruly Water,” will be curated by Tom Eccles, executive director of the Center for Curatorial Studies and the Hessel Museum of Art at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York; Ruba Katrib, chief curator and director of curatorial affairs at MoMA PS1 in New York; Mark Rappolt, editor-in-chief of ArtReview magazine; and Shabbir Husain Mustafa, a curator at the National Gallery of Singapore. The exhibition’s name is a reference to a book by Sunil S. Amrith about bodies of water in South Asia.
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The quadrennial will take place in Al Riwaq, an exhibition pavilion next to the Museum of Islamic Art that has hosted blockbuster shows by such artists as Jeff Koons and Takashi Murakami.
Among the projects to be included in the show is a cooking performance, titled untitled 2025 (no bread no ashes), by Rirkrit Tiravanija that was unveiled on Wednesday at the corner of MIA Park, outside of Al Riwaq, as part of the Evolution Nation festival. The performance involves baking bread with different bakers each Friday from 4–6pm that represent the range of cultures represented in Qatar. Tiravanija will be one of 58 artists participating in the quadrennial’s inaugural edition.
“Rirkrit Tiravanija’s untitled 2025 (no bread no ashes) embodies Rubaiya’s spirit of inclusion and collaboration. By inviting people to bake and share bread, the project transforms a simple act into a symbol of community and dialogue,” Sheikha Reem Al Thani, director of Rubaiya Qatar, said in a statement. “It marks the beginning of Rubaiya Qatar’s journey toward its first edition in 2026, which will continue to foster creative exchange and reflect Qatar’s diverse and dynamic cultural landscape.”
In late October 2023, Eccles and Tiravanija visited Qatar. It was on that trip that Tiravanija met Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, chairperson of Qatar Museums, who asked him to create a project in Doha. He wanted to do something that spurred community. “We researched the different communities and the bread that they make,” Tiravanija told ARTnews of his research with Eccles.
Eccles said in an interview with ARTnews that for him, the area around Al Riwaq represents “one more of the great democratic spaces of the city.” On weekends, the park outside it is packed with Qataris of all backgrounds, and he wants the quadrennial to reflect this diversity.
Moreover, Eccles explained that he and the other curators were inspired by the remnants of a 10th-century sunken ship in the collection of the Islamic Museum of Art. The ship, which traveled from Baghdad to Indonesia and possibly as far as China, is “proof positive of the maritime Silk Road,” he added. He wants the artists in the quadrennial to reflect that geographical range.
Eccles noted that he and the other curators “looked at the patterns of water, monsoons, traffic, migration, and found that the patterns of the 10th century very much feel like the shape of Qatar today. That gave us our regional mapping of where we find the artists for the quadrennial.” He said the show will reflect “weather, water, migration patterns, and geopolitical reality that shapes today.”
Tiravanija’s performance will be reactivated in February during the first Art Basel Qatar, which will also launch next year, with artist Wael Shawky at the helm.
Eccles added that for the quadrennial the Tiravanija installation will be given a roof inspired by bread. This building, he said, could become permanent.
The Qatari art scene has risen dramatically in prominence over the past two decades. Qatar is known mainly for institutions such as the Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, one of several institutions operated by an entity known as the Qatar Museums. Qatar is less known for biennial-style contemporary art shows, something that the nation has historically lacked.
The new quadriennial is poised to become one of the most closely watched recurring art exhibitions in the Gulf region, with its main competition being the Sharjah Biennial, a well-known and critically acclaimed show in the Emirates that was founded in 1993. Beyond the Gulf, the Qatari quadrennial will also be jockeying for international attention alongside the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale and the Islamic Arts Biennale, both of which are relatively new and run by the government in Saudi Arabia.
In the past year alone, Qatar has made steps toward expanding its scene. At least two big institutions are in the offing: a dedicated space for art by M. F. Husain, an Indian modernist who spent time in Qatar, and the Lusail Museum, which has been billed as the largest institution anywhere with a focus on Orientalist art.
Art Basel Qatar is expected to lure many international observers to the country next year, and Qatar is expected to launch a Venice Biennale pavilion next year.
