Arab Design Now 2026, Design Doha Biennial Exhibition

Arab Design Now 2026, the headline exhibition of the Design Doha Biennial, opens on 5 November 2026 in Fareej Al Asmakh and Msheireb Downtown Doha and runs until 31 December 2026. It presents the work of 81 designers, with 78 new commissions and 16 films made specially for the exhibition.

Curated by Noura Al Sayeh, the second edition of the exhibition puts context at the centre: it shows designers alongside the artisans, craftspeople and makers they work with, and the environments and processes behind each piece. By looking at process as well as product, the show sets out to reveal the networks of material intelligence embedded in each practice and to present the biennial as a place for debate.

Films and photographs behind the work

A commissioned series of videos and photographs by audio-visual artists from different geographies accompanies the designs. The artists were commissioned directly by the designers and reveal the often unseen hands, minds and landscapes behind the work. An installation by Abdulrahman Al Muftah, for example, is shown with a short documentary by Amal Al Muftah about the artisans involved in making it. Through these films the exhibition travels from the urban landscapes of Doha to Nubian homes on the banks of the Nile, a textile landfill in Jordan and the threatened marshlands of southern Iraq.

Five thematic threads

The works are grouped into five threads, and five authors were commissioned to reflect on them:

• On Narration and Ornamentation, with designers including Dima Srouji and Hooda Shawa, Shahira Fahmy Architects and Atelier Aziz Alqatami.
• On Land, Agrarian Practices, with Aziza Chaouni Projects, Mirna Bamieh and Studio Bazazo among others.
• Landscapes of Production, Landscapes of Extraction, with Ammar Khammash, Material Cultures and India Mahdavi among others.
• Crafts, Technology and Community, with Ibbini Studio, Wesam Al Asali and Tamara Kalo among others.
• Belonging and Migrating, with Studio Safar, Ramdane Touhami and Shireen Taweel among others.

The full list of participating designers and visitor information are published on the Design Doha website.