{"id":29716,"date":"2026-02-19T18:44:34","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T10:44:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=29716"},"modified":"2026-02-19T18:44:34","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T10:44:34","slug":"is-doha-the-middle-easts-next-art-hub-city-aims-high-with-art-basel-qatar-new-museums","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=29716","title":{"rendered":"Is Doha the Middle East\u2019s next art hub? City aims high with Art Basel Qatar, new museums"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.i-scmp.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/1280x720\/public\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/02\/19\/c896835f-f905-4a6a-9c47-d6723d97cd03_14589ab9.jpg?itok=UqnNyeO4&amp;v=1771475506\" \/><\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Qatar, a gas-powered Gulf state, has long punched well above its weight.<\/p>\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">The Islamic country is a major diplomatic player on the world stage, mediating conflicts ranging from <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">Gaza ceasefire talks<\/span> between Israel and Hamas to <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">peace negotiations<\/span> between the Republic of the Congo and Rwanda.<\/div>\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">The Gulf nation\u2019s state-funded broadcaster, Al Jazeera, has wielded huge international influence through its reporting, while its recent hosting of mega-sporting events \u2013 headlined by the <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">2022 Fifa World Cup<\/span> \u2013 has cemented its place in the global consciousness.<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Now, Doha \u2013 its capital city \u2013 has added a new ambition to its strategic road map: becoming the leading art hub of the Middle East.<\/p>\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">On February 3, the Swiss art fair giant Art Basel unveiled the inaugural edition of its flagship art fair in Doha for preview \u2013 and officially on February 5 \u2013 making the Qatari capital the first Middle Eastern city to host <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">the elite international event<\/span>. The fair, which ended on February 7, hosted more than 85 galleries, including some of the biggest dealers in the world, and drew some 17,000 visitors.<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Over the past decade, states across the Gulf have built mega museums and started new biennales and cultural collaborations as instruments of soft power and to diversify their economies away from oil and gas.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/lifestyle\/arts\/article\/3343686\/doha-middle-easts-next-art-hub-city-aims-high-art-basel-qatar-new-museums?utm_source=rss_feed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Qatar, a gas-powered Gulf state, has long punched well above its weight. The Islamic country is a major diplomatic player on the world stage, mediating&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29717,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[2923,1501,15947,540,15945,15946,1950,6522,8426,10372,15948],"class_list":["post-29716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bored-interesting","tag-aims","tag-art","tag-basel","tag-city","tag-doha","tag-easts","tag-high","tag-hub","tag-middle","tag-museums","tag-qatar","wpcat-33-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29716"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29716\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}