Design Doha, Qatar’s premier contemporary design platform, will return for its highly anticipated second edition, from 5 November 2026 to 31 January 2027. The biennial will unveil an expansive exhibition programme and showcase the work of over one hundred multidisciplinary designers and studios from across the MENASA region (Middle East, North Africa and South Asia) and their diasporas. The 2026 edition will be centred in one of Doha’s most significant heritage districts, Fereej Al Asmakh.
Design Doha was established under the leadership of Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chairperson of Qatar Museums. The 2026 edition is led by Fahad Al Obaidly, Director of Design Doha, with Glenn Adamson serving as Artistic Director to guide the biennial’s curatorial vision and international dialogue.
Building on the remarkable success of its inaugural edition in 2024, Design Doha 2026 marks a significant expansion in scale, ambition and international reach. The biennial will present more than 15 exhibitions, headlined by Arab Design Now 2026, curated by Noura Al Sayeh and bringing together 81 designers, 78 new commissions and 15 films, with a production scale rarely seen in regional design exhibitions. The participating designers represent 27 countries, working across more than 15 disciplines ranging from architecture, furniture and product design to craft, urbanism, sound and social design.
Central to this edition is Fereej Al Asmakh, one of Qatar’s most significant heritage districts, which will serve as a key hub for Design Doha 2026. Rather than functioning solely as a backdrop for exhibitions, Al Asmakh will be a site of cultural production, community engagement and design-led urban renewal, drawing on the region’s deep well of generational knowledge. The biennial proposes contemporary creative and cultural solutions for the newly renovated district, respecting its historic importance and heritage.
With its expanded footprint, the biennial aims to demonstrate how design and creativity can transform a city responsibly. This expanded presence establishes Design Doha as an activator of spaces and a knowledge platform for cultural exchange and transmission. The biennial connects designers and makers with the public, production networks, international design experts and new professional opportunities. The biennial nurtures local and regional talent, encourages global exchange and further enhances Doha’s position as a creative capital in the region. Design Doha is committed to its mission of developing sustainable creative economies in the long term while cementing design’s role in improving current and future living conditions for everyone.
At the core of Design Doha 2026 is the headline exhibition Arab Design Now 2026, curated by Noura Al Sayeh, reinforcing Design Doha’s role as a platform for critical inquiry and exchange, the exhibition will examine contemporary design in the Arab world through five thematic frameworks: Narration and Ornamentation; Land and Agrarian Practices; Landscapes of Production and Extraction; Crafts, Technology and Community; and Belonging and Migrating.
Alongside Arab Design Now 2026, exhibitions will unfold across Doha, including Msheireb and Fereej Al Asmakh, as well as in Qatar Museums institutions, heritage sites and public spaces, transforming the city into a connected network of design experiences. The biennial will present these exhibitions in collaboration with leading regional and international institutions including Turquoise Mountain, Irthi Contemporary Crafts Council, Ithra, Liwan Design Studios and Labs, among others.
Extending the biennial beyond traditional exhibition spaces and into the fabric of the city, Design Doha 2026 will launch Public Design Commissions, an ambitious programme curated by Javier Peña Ibáñez, Director of Concéntrico, the International Festival of Design and Architecture in Logroño, Spain. Through an open call across the MENASA region, ten designers, architects and urban practitioners were selected to reimagine public spaces across Qatar. As a first stage, five of these winning proposals will result in context-responsive installations that explore architecture, crafts, sustainability and cultural identity, activating public spaces across Doha through innovative design interventions. Together, these commissions position the biennial as a site of active experimentation, exchange and long-term design legacy.
Recognising emerging and established voices across the region, the Design Doha Prize returns in 2026 with four winners selected across the categories of Craft, Product Design, Furniture Design and Emerging Talent. The Prize is chaired by H.E. Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, with a 24-member international jury headed by Iranian-French architect and designer India Mahdavi. Winners will be announced on 7 November 2026 during the biennial’s opening week, reinforcing Design Doha’s commitment to supporting the next generation of design leaders. Together, the four winners will receive a support package comprising QAR 800,000 in funding, in addition to mentorship and opportunities to further develop, showcase and expand the reach of their work.
Two major bilingual publications—one dedicated to Arab Design Now 2026, and a second documenting the full scope of the biennial—will be complemented by a robust schedule of talks, workshops, and networking platforms.
As part of Qatar’s 2026 Years of Culture initiative, Design Doha will also partner with institutions and designers from across Mexico. This collaboration underscores shared narratives of landscape, craft and material intelligence across regions shaped by desert ecologies. A major exhibition by Mexico-based designer Fernando Laposse will explore systems of cultivation, community and material transformation, drawing connections between Mexico and Qatar’s environmental and cultural histories.
Fahad Al Obaidly, Director of Design Doha, said, “Design Doha 2026 marks the next chapter in the biennial’s evolution. What began as a platform to map the design landscape of the MENASA region has developed into an institution that understands design as a system of knowledge shaped by language, landscape, ecology, craft, and the accumulated intelligence of generations. By extending the biennial into the public realm and placing equal emphasis on research, making, and collaboration, Design Doha positions Qatar as a place where design is not only exhibited, but cultivated, produced, and shared. In doing so, the biennial contributes to Qatar’s broader ambitions for cultural, social, economic, and environmental development, strengthening the connections between heritage, innovation, industry, education, and international exchange.”
Glenn Adamson, Artistic Director of Design Doha, said, “Design Doha 2026 expands both the biennial’s scope and international reach. This edition illuminates a constellation of voices across the MENASA region and beyond, demonstrating how design operates through dialogue and exchange. Together, these projects affirm Qatar as a global point of orientation for the future of design.”
Further details and press images for Design Doha 2026, including exhibitions and the prize, are available to download. Details of the Public Design Commissions programme will be announced at a later date.
Press release from Qatar Museums
Image: Maryam Turkey. The Ground Remembers. Part of Arab Design Now exhibition by Design Doha Biennial 2026.
