ArtAsiaPacific published Slow and Purposeful: Art Basel Qatar 2026, a review by Valentina Buzzi, on 9 February 2026. Buzzi describes the first edition of the fair, held in M7 and the Doha Design District through 7 February, as welcoming 87 exhibitors and 84 artists, a slim roster compared with other major fairs, organised through a curated solo show model under the concept of Becoming set by the artistic director, Wael Shawky.
The review explains how that model gave unusual visibility to individual practices and to artists from the region, and notes that many collectors and dealers acknowledged growing economic uncertainty while saying they were playing a long game in Qatar. Among the standout presentations by regional galleries, Buzzi lists Linza Gazzaz with Hafez Gallery, Amir Nour with Lawrie Shabibi, Ahmed Mater with ATHR and Tabari's presentation of the Palestinian artist Hazem Harb, "whose project mobilized archaeology as a critical framework to examine displacement, circulation, and epistemic violence."
That framing reflects the core of Harb's recent work. Born in Gaza and based in Dubai, he collects and reworks archival photographs, maps and fragments, treating collage and archaeological documentation as tools for questioning how Palestinian history is classified and recorded. The Doha booth included his Reformulated Archaeology works on paper and prints of mosaic fragments from the former Palestinian airport. Hazem Harb is represented by Tabari.
