Ocula's Philippa Kelly surveyed the inaugural Art Basel Qatar, overseen by artistic director Wael Shawky at Doha's M7 centre, arguing that many of the 87 participating galleries leaned on blue-chip modern masters rather than newer names for the fair's debut. She cites Acquavella Galleries showing Jean-Michel Basquiat, David Zwirner presenting three paintings from Marlene Dumas's Against the Wall (2009-2010), Van de Weghe's Pablo Picasso works and Hauser & Wirth's Philip Guston selection, including the 1978 self-portrait Conversation, as evidence of that caution.
Against that backdrop, Kelly singles out galleries that opted for a different register. Almine Rech devoted its stand to Ali Cherri's work on the blurred lines between humanity and animality, Sadie Coles presented new paintings from Alvaro Barrington's sunset series, and the article turns to Doha-based al markhiya gallery's presentation of Qatari artist Bouthayna Al Muftah before noting that the Dubai-based Tabari Artspace presented Palestinian visual artist Hazem Harb, whose work mobilises archaeology as a critical framework for examining displacement and the production of historical knowledge.
Tabari represents Hazem Harb, and Kelly's framing places his archaeology-driven practice among the fair's regional counterweights to the imported modern-master strategy she describes elsewhere in the piece. The mention comes as Harb's work appeared across several Art Basel Qatar previews that week, reinforcing Tabari's presence at the region's newest international fair.
