Commissioner of the National Pavilion of Qatar and Chairperson of Qatar Museums H E Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani during the opening ceremony
Doha, Qatar: Commissioner of the National Pavilion of Qatar and Chairperson of Qatar Museums H E Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani yesterday opened “untitled 2026 (a gathering of remarkable people)”, Qatar’s official contribution to the 61st International Art Exhibition—La Biennale di Venezia, presented on the site of the future permanent Qatar Pavilion in the Giardini della Biennale.
Conceived by world-renowned artist Rirkrit Tiravanija, the exhibition brings together visual artists, chefs, and performers from across the Arab world, including Qatari‑American artist Sophia Al‑Maria, Lebanese artist Tarek Atoui, Kuwaiti‑Puerto Rican artist Alia Farid, and renowned Palestinian chef Fadi Kattan.
It is organised by Qatar Museums and presented by Rubaiya Qatar, a nationwide multidisciplinary contemporary art quadrennial debuting this November.
At the official ceremony, Sheikha Al Mayassa welcomed dignitaries including Mayor of the City of Venice Luigi Brugnaro, and Ambassador of Qatar to Italy H E Khalid bin Youssef Al Sada; as well as renowned Qatari and international guests such as Qatar Museums CEO Mohammed Saad Al Rumaihi; Deputy CEO of ALRIWAQ, Public Art, and Rubaiya Qatar Sheikha Reem Al-Thani; acclaimed artist and Director of The FireStation Wael Shawky; Director of National Neuegalerie Klaus Biesenbach; Maurizio Cattelan, artist; Director of the Museum of Modern Art Christophe Cherix; Director of British Museum Nicholas Cullinan; Frida Escobedo, Architect; Lina Ghotmeh, Architect; President of Luma Foundation Maja Hoffman; Director Emeritus of the Museum of Modern Art Glenn Lowry; Head of Jury for Design Doha Prize 2026 India Mahdavi; and Director of Droom en Daad Foundation Wim Pijbes.
“Our participation in La Biennale di Venezia started with the vision of our leadership, the Amir, His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani to encourage dialogue and share the talent of Qatar and the region with the world,” said H E Sheikha Al Mayassa. “We are meeting in a difficult hour, when displacement, destruction, and destabilisation are daily words across our region and beyond. Culture connects what conflict tries to break apart and honours the humanity in each of us.
“That is why, for this first contribution by Qatar to Venice’s Art Biennale, we invited Rirkrit Tiravanija, a master of communal, interactive experiences - to imagine this exhibition. Under its tent, our community of artists will form, in the oldest and most generous meaning of the word, a tribe: a circle bound by hospitality, by craft, and by the simple conviction that to share a meal, a song, or a story is already to begin to understand one another.”
The Qatar Pavilion is designed by Rirkrit Tiravanija as a place for cultural exchange that supports different forms of participation and artistic intervention. Modelled after Qatari gathering spaces, Tiravanija’s maroon-coloured temporary structure features a “scrambled” mashrabiya pattern, a traditional Islamic architectural element.
The exhibition features an experimental narrative film by Qatari-American artist Sophia Al-Maria, entitled DAMAR TV (2026); Jerrican (2022–2026), a large-scale sculpture by Kuwaiti-Puerto Rican artist Alia Farid; as well as live musical performances organised by Lebanese artist Tarek Atoui and a culinary programme of Middle Eastern cuisine designed by Palestinian chef Fadi Kattan.
