National Pavilion of Qatar

The National Pavilion of Qatar at the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia presents the exhibition “untitled 2026 (a gathering of remarkable people); Rirkrit Tiravanija, Sophia Al-Maria, Tarek Atoui, Alia Farid, Fadi Kattan“. The project is commissioned by Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chairperson of Qatar Museums, and builds on artist Rirkrit Tiravanija’s decades-long practice of inviting collaborators to activate his architectural and spatial environments. The exhibition highlights the work of artists from Qatar and the broader Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia (MENASA) region.

Staged on the site of the future permanent Qatar Pavilion, “a gathering of remarkable people“ features a tent-like structure designed by Rirkrit Tiravanija, conceived as a space for cultural exchange that fosters diverse forms of participation and artistic practice. These include screenings of “DAMAR TV“ (2026), an experimental narrative film by Qatari-American artist Sophia Al-Maria, and “Jerrican“ (2026), a large-scale sculpture by Kuwaiti-Puerto Rican artist Alia Farid. More than a dozen activations will animate the Pavilion from its opening through the close of the Biennale Arte 2026, combining live performances organized by Lebanese artist Tarek Atoui with a culinary programme of Middle Eastern cuisine conceived by Palestinian chef Fadi Kattan.

The exhibition brings together artists, musicians, poets, and chefs drawing on diverse cultures from across the Arab world. Improvised collaborations curated by Atoui feature musicians engaging in dialogue with field recordings made by Atoui along the Qatari coastline, as well as recordings by Lebanese sound recordist Paul Matar. Chefs and mixologists from across the Middle East and North Africa present a cuisine situated at the intersection of tradition and innovation, with menus often built around a single ingredient selected to reflect on the intercultural impact of migration and trade.