Y Why! by Buthayna Ali (2010)
Doha, Qatar: As part of its fifteenth anniversary programme, Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art has opened Resolutions: Evolving Realities, a major exhibition reflecting on the institution’s origins while looking toward its future.
On view from April 30 to August 22, 2026, across the museum’s Atrium and Ground Floor Galleries (1–7), the exhibition brings together key works from Mathaf’s formative years alongside the world premiere of a previously unseen large-scale sculptural work by renowned Iraqi artist Ismail Fattah.
Resolutions: Evolving Realities revisits works commissioned by, or first shown at, Mathaf following its transition from a private collection into a public institution in 2010.
The exhibition re-examines these formative moments through a contemporary lens, including works from Mathaf’s inaugural exhibitions, Told | Untold | Retold: 23 Stories of Journeys Through Time and Space and Interventions: A Dialogue Between the Modern and the Contemporary, alongside other significant early presentations.
The exhibition also features the world premiere of a monumental sculptural work by Ismail Fattah, produced during the artist residency programme that preceded Mathaf’s opening as a public museum, offering visitors a rare opportunity to engage with works closely connected to the institution’s earliest chapter.
Featuring ten intergenerational artists and collectives, the exhibition explores personal, cultural and sociopolitical realities across the region and beyond, reflecting Mathaf’s ongoing commitment to dialogue, experimentation and critical exchange.
Director of Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Zeina Arida, said: “Resolutions: Evolving Realities is an exhibition that illustrates Mathaf’s exhibition history by revisiting key moments that shaped its early years. Bringing together landmark works from Mathaf’s early exhibitions alongside new artistic productions and in dialogue with the collection displayed on the first floor, the exhibition reflects the institution’s commitment to supporting intergenerational voices and engaging with evolving cultural conversations.”
The exhibition forms part of the continuation of Mathaf’s 15th anniversary celebrations, building on Resolutions: Celebrating 15 Years of Mathaf, and reflects the museum’s wider efforts this year to further develop its research and knowledge platforms.
This includes the relaunch of the Mathaf Encyclopedia of Modern Art and the Arab World website, which has been significantly expanded and updated to include more than 70 artist biographies, 30 author biographies and five scholarly essays.
Several of the artists featured in Resolutions: Evolving Realities, including Farid Belkahia, Ismail Fattah, Ghada Amer, Hassan Sharif, Ibrahim El Salahi, Raqs Media Collective, Jeffar Khaldi, Akram Zaatari and Buthayna Ali, are also among those whose biographies are included in the updated Encyclopedia, which was further developed this year to coincide with the anniversary.
The digital resource aims to enhance access to knowledge and broaden research resources on modern and contemporary art in the Arab world, further reinforcing Mathaf’s commitment to fostering dialogue across generations.
