Header: Image Courtesy of Design Doha 2024
Design Doha Biennial 2026 will take place between April 16th and June 30, 2026. Two years after its 2024 debut, the fair organisers promise a bigger, more ambitious, and expanded fair. The Design Doha Prize Ceremony is slated for April 18th. Every year, the prize is awarded to designers from the MENASA region (Middle East, North Africa and South Asia) in four categories: Emerging Talent, Craft, Product Design and Furniture Design. India Mahdavi, internationally recognised architect and designer, will serve as Head of Jury for the Design Doha Prize 2026. The event, which gathers industry professionals and celebrates excellence, is founded by Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and organised by Qatar Museums.
Design Doha 2026 extends across the city
Through exhibitions, collaborative projects, and other exciting events, Design Doha aims to push the boundaries of design and create a more inclusive creative ecosystem. The event will gather architects, artists, and designers who will shape the future of design and explore new possibilities. The artistic interventions will include cultural spaces and creative hubs around the city, thus interacting with its outstanding heritage and dynamic future. According to Fahad Al Obaidly, Acting Director of Design Doha:
In 2026, we will expand our activation across the country, positioning design at the very heart of our urban fabric. Grounded in our rich Islamic and Middle Eastern heritage, we will reimagine public spaces through our own unique expressions, enhancing their accessibility, walkability, and vibrancy.
Arab Design Now Exhibition
Apart from enjoying exceptional design, the upcoming edition of Design Doha also invites visitors to go deeper and engage with stories, processes, and the surrounding cultural context that shape the design of the MENASA countries. Focusing on unity and resilience, the event will celebrate the Arab world’s creativity, with a special emphasis on innovative, sustainable solutions. The exhibitions at Design Doha 2026 will explore how traditional gestures and resources rooted in memory can be used as orientation tools in today’s world, characterised by rapid change.
In a world where craft becomes navigation, materials uncover new frontiers, ecologies define emerging horizons, while damage opens a space for revival, the fair creates a network of practices that favour plural shifting trajectories instead of linear narratives. The Arab Design Now 2026 exhibition brings these practices into focus through lived conditions, realities, and practices across the MENASA region and diaspora. The broad exploration is gathered into concentrated designs shaped by labour, place and thought. By offering deep insight into factors influencing design in the region, the event explores the influence of geography, technology, agriculture, traditions, industry, identity, and political turmoil.
Design Talks and The Public Design Commissions
Arab Design Now headline exhibition is accompanied by other collaborative shows which explore contemporary design in the MENASA region. Design Talks brings together regional and international professionals into panel discussions and conversations exploring a variety of topics, including creative collaboration, urban development, museum design, and many others. The Public Design Commission features innovative urban installations, outdoor furniture, community gardens, and coworking spaces.
Shaping the future of design
In its first edition, held two years ago, Design Doha placed Qatar firmly on the global cultural map. This year, the fair goes a step further, expanding across the city while keeping regional designers at its core. With a focus on sustainability, heritage and innovation, Design Doha Biennial 2026 aims to help shape the future of design.
