The talk complemented and extended Qatar's programming at Art Basel in Basel. In the Collectors Lounge at the fair, the Qatar Pavilion, open June 17 – 22, features the Qatar Airways Lounge and Al Maha Island Gallery. The lounge offers a comfortable setting for meetings, and features authentic Qatari cuisine fused with international flavours by Chef Noof Al Marri, head chef of the Desert Rose Café at the National Museum of Qatar.
The Pavilion's Al Maha Island Gallery provides an advance look at the Lusail Museum and the vision for the island it will be located on, both designed by Herzog & de Meuron. On view in the gallery are examples of the Lusail Museum's unparalleled collection of Orientalist art, with paintings by Gustav Bauernfeind, John Frederick Lewis, Jean-Léon Gérôme, and Osman Hamdi Bey, as well as a painting by Hamdi Bey on loan from the Musée d'Orsay as part of the programme of cultural exchange established by a 2025 agreement between Qatar Museums and the French Ministry of Culture.
The inaugural edition of Art Basel Qatar will be held in February 2026 at creative hub M7 and in the Doha Design District in downtown Msheireb, in proximity to world-renowned landmarks including the National Museum of Qatar. It is a partnership among Art Basel, Qatar Sports Investments, a major investor in sports, culture, entertainment, and lifestyle, and QC+, a strategic and creative collective specialising in cultural commerce. Additional details will be announced soon.
