The inaugural edition, opening in November 2026, positions Doha as a transnational cultural hub through multi-site exhibitions examining water, ecology and global exchange
LEFT TO RIGHT: Ruba Katrib, Mark Rappolt, Tom Eccles, and Shabbir Hussain Mustafa. Courtesy of Qatar Museums.
Qatar Museums has announced the launch of Rubaiya Qatar, a new nationwide contemporary art quadrennial that will debut in November 2026 and run through spring 2027. Developed under the auspices of ALRIWAQ Art + Architecture, the institution dedicated to contemporary art, architecture and public art within Qatar Museums, Rubaiya Qatar will unfold across multiple sites through exhibitions, commissions, public art projects, residencies and publications, all organised under a single thematic framework every four years.
Conceived as a long-term cultural platform, Rubaiya Qatar seeks to consolidate Qatar’s position within international contemporary art discourse while supporting emerging and established artists from across the region and beyond. The quadrennial forms part of Qatar Museums’ broader strategic expansion and will serve as a major public-facing initiative aligned with national cultural development goals.
‘Unruly Waters’ and the geopolitics of circulation
The flagship exhibition of the inaugural edition, ‘Unruly Waters’, will be presented at ALRIWAQ Art + Architecture and across additional sites as part of Rubaiya Qatar’s wider activations. Featuring more than 50 contemporary artists and over 20 new commissions, the exhibition takes water as a conceptual and material lens through which to examine geography, ecology, migration and historical exchange across a region extending from the Gulf to East Asia.
Curated by Tom Eccles, Ruba Katrib, Mark Rappolt and Shabbir Hussain Mustafa, ‘Unruly Waters’ draws its title from environmental historian Sunil Amrith’s study of climate, migration and empire. The exhibition situates Qatar within long-standing maritime networks shaped by trade, weather systems and population flows. It foregrounds how the movement of goods, ideas, and communities across the Indian Ocean and the Maritime Silk Road has historically connected West, South, and East Asia.
Participating artists include Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Sophia Al Maria, Mohamed Bourouissa, Ade Darmawan, Alia Farid, Naiza Khan, Dala Nassar, Lydia Ourahmane, Marina Tabassum and Rirkrit Tiravanija, among others. The works span painting, sculpture, moving image, installation, performance and sound, engaging the environmental urgencies and geopolitical realities shaping the contemporary Gulf.
Archives, artefacts and transregional histories
In addition to contemporary commissions, ‘Unruly Waters’ will present artefacts from Qatar Museums’ collections, including objects from the Cirebon shipwreck, a late ninth- to tenth-century merchant vessel recovered in the Java Sea in 2003. The shipwreck’s cargo provides material evidence of early forms of globalisation and maritime exchange across the Indian Ocean, predating European colonial expansion.
By placing these historical artefacts alongside contemporary works, the exhibition proposes alternative historical frameworks grounded in circulation rather than fixed national boundaries. Winds, tides and oceanic currents emerge as structuring forces that shaped trade, migration and cultural production long before the consolidation of modern nation-states.
The exhibition builds on prior research initiatives, including the 2022 exhibition ‘One Tiger or Another’ at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art and the 2024 academic conference “Water Ways: Epistemologies and Aesthetics,” organised in collaboration with the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.
Additional exhibitions and multi-site programme
Beyond ‘Unruly Waters’, Rubaiya Qatar will encompass further exhibitions across Qatar. ‘Our Common Currents’, curated by Lina Patmali at the QM Katara Gallery, examines water as both an environmental and cultural force, drawing connections between pearling traditions, maritime histories and contemporary ecological concerns. At Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, ‘Seething Sea’, curated by Wadha Al Aqeedi, brings together modern and contemporary Gulf artists to reflect on the sea as a site of sustenance, danger and myth.
The quadrennial will also include projects with Wael Shawky and Rirkrit Tiravanija, collaborations with Qatar National Library and the Biennale of Sydney, and public art unveilings by Jitish Kallat and Minerva Cuevas. Public programmes, residencies and community initiatives will accompany the exhibitions throughout their duration.
Rubaiya Qatar is presented within the framework of Evolution Nation, marking 50 years since the founding of the National Museum of Qatar and 20 years since the establishment of Qatar Museums. Positioned as a recurring platform for research-driven contemporary art, the quadrennial signals a new institutional phase for Qatar Museums and ALRIWAQ Art + Architecture.
Rubaiya Qatar opens across multiple venues in Doha in November 2026 and runs through spring 2027. For more information, please visit Qatar Museums.
