On Tuesday, Israel carried out a missile strike in Doha, Qatar, concentrating on senior Hamas leaders. Explosions rocked the town’s Leqtaifiya neighborhood, with smoke seen rising over the Katara district—a cultural hub identified for its eating places and artwork exhibitions. Qatar’s major artwork establishments, operated by Qatar Museums—together with Mathaf: Arab Museum of Trendy Artwork, the Nationwide Museum of Qatar, and the Museum of Islamic Artwork—are positioned a long way from the strike zone.
The strike is a shock to Qatar, a small Persian Gulf nation higher identified for its oil and pure fuel wealth, its internet hosting of the 2022 World Cup, and its quickly rising cultural sector.
In Could, that cultural profile obtained a serious increase when Artwork Basel introduced it could accomplice with Qatar Sports activities Investments (QSI) and QC+—a subsidiary of the nation’s sovereign wealth fund and the business arm of Qatar Museums, respectively—to launch a Doha truthful subsequent February. The announcement, made one month earlier than the opening of Basel’s flagship truthful in Switzerland, mentioned the inaugural version of Artwork Basel Doha would happen at M7, a artistic hub within the Doha Design District.
Whereas Artwork Dubai and the Abu Dhabi Artwork Honest have run for greater than a decade, the arrival of Artwork Basel was seen as ushering in a brand new period for the Gulf—lengthy positioned as the subsequent frontier for sellers in search of to faucet new collectors amid a struggling world artwork commerce.
Tuesday’s strike now seems to place that development—fueled by Qatar’s popularity for financial and political stability in a risky area—in danger. In June, simply weeks after the Artwork Basel announcement, Iran launched a missile assault on the US Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. However that strike got here with advance warning to each Qatar and the US, the missiles had been intercepted, and no casualties had been reported. Framed as a symbolic retaliation for US assaults on Iranian nuclear services, the strike was broadly seen as extra posturing than escalation. Earlier this month, Iran and Qatar introduced they’d “absolutely resolved” the difficulty.
Tuesday’s Israeli strike, against this, got here with out warning. Whereas the White Home has mentioned it supplied advance discover to Qatar, the nation’s international ministry spokesperson, Majed al-Ansari, known as such claims “baseless.” Hamas mentioned in a press release that no senior leaders had been killed within the assault, although a number of others—together with the son of Khalil al-Hayya, the group’s chief negotiator—had been.
The plain query now’s whether or not collectors and sellers—typically cautious of even the trace of instability—will nonetheless journey to Doha, particularly if the strike sparks retaliation or escalates into outright battle between Israel and Qatar.
“Our crew is intently monitoring developments in Doha and staying in common contact with our companions,” an Artwork Basel spokesperson mentioned in a press release to ARTnews. “We stay wholly dedicated to delivering a profitable inaugural version of Artwork Basel Qatar in February 2026.”
Qatar has lengthy hosted senior Hamas management and has performed a central position in negotiations between the group, Israel, and the USA over ending the warfare in Gaza. Since Israel launched its air and floor invasion of Gaza following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, assault, quite a few ceasefire talks have taken place in Qatar’s capital.
The Qatari authorities pulled no punches in its response. In a name with President Trump, Emir Tamim bin Hamad reportedly mentioned Qatar would “take all essential measures to guard its safety and protect its sovereignty.” Al-Ansari, the international ministry spokesperson, known as the strike a “felony assault” and a “blatant violation of all worldwide legal guidelines and norms.”
