Doha artists trace worlds in flux

Welcome to Al-Monitor Doha.

This week, Doha’s cultural calendar stretches between the celestial and the intimate. Fifteen artists who've spent nine months in residence open their studios at Garage Gallery. Their work pulls from desert sand, domestic rituals and star charts. At M7, "Amazigh Hair Couture" examines how Moroccan women turned braiding into a form of resistance and memory, reclaiming traditions once filtered through colonial lenses. Forty GCC designers converge at Mandarin Oriental for the Laki exhibition, fragrance houses open their doors at West Walk and the Kashta Exhibition stocks gear for anyone planning a desert escape.

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1. Leading the week: “Portals in Flux”

An interior view of a temporary exhibition at the Garage Gallery in Fire Station (Photo courtesy of Qatar Museums)

Fifteen Qatar-based artists converge at Garage Gallery this week to present work developed over nine months of intensive creative inquiry. “Portals in Flux” opens Wednesday and invites visitors into environments shaped by memory, materiality and imagination. Some pieces emerge from the familiar texture of desert sand and domestic rituals, while others trace cosmic observation and personal recollection.

Rather than presenting polished, finished works, the exhibition functions as a living archive of process and evolution. You’ll encounter installations that reflect what feels close and intimate, alongside works that gaze toward distant skies. One artist might explore the longing for home through the sight of plants, while another charts the paths of planets and stars seeking meaning beyond our world.

The exhibition encourages you to move at your own pace, following your own curiosity through the space. Each work of art acts as a doorway, offering different ways of experiencing, feeling or remembering. As you navigate between pieces, a constellation of interconnected worlds unfolds. The works collectively stretch and bend our sense of time and space, carrying us between personal, social and cultural narratives. This is where the tangible meets the unseen, where ideas and experimentation unlock new possibilities for interpretation.

Date: Until Dec. 31

Location: Garage Gallery, Fire Station

Find more information here.

2. Word on the street: “Amazigh Hair Couture”

 A contemporary interpretation of Amazigh braiding traditions. (Photo courtesy of Qatar Museums)

M7's White Box Gallery presents “Amazigh Hair Couture,” led by Moroccan-born artist and creative director Ilham Mestour and curated by Rotterdam-based interdisciplinary artist Rajae El Mouhandiz. The exhibition brings together fine art photography, scent, hair installations, textile works and ethnographic archival material, with artists including Lalla Essaydi and Amina Agueznay.

Organized across four thematic zones — Roots and Rituals, Body and Soul, Reframing the Gaze and Crafting Continuity — the exhibition explores how hair serves as a vital carrier of memory, beauty, resistance and identity within matrilineal Amazigh cultures. 

The exhibition is presented as part of the legacy of the Qatar-Morocco 2024 Year of Culture, affirming how braiding patterns and styling rituals function as repositories of knowledge passed from mother to daughter, grandmother to granddaughter. For visitors interested in how cultural heritage adapts without losing its essence or how personal care practices can carry political weight, “Amazigh Hair Couture” offers compelling evidence that artistry and identity are inseparable.

Date: Until Jan. 12, 2026

Location: M7, White Box Gallery

Find more details here.

3. Doha diary

 An outdoor view of the Mandarin Oriental, Msheireb Downtown Doha. (Photo courtesy of Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group)

•  Laki exhibition

The inaugural Laki Women’s Exhibition brings together 40 leading designers from across the GCC to showcase their work. The exhibition offers a concentrated look at contemporary design emerging from the region, with each designer bringing their distinct perspective on fashion, textiles and creative expression.

Date: Until Oct. 31

Location: Mandarin Oriental

Find more information here.

• West Walk Oud and Perfume Exhibition

Doha's West Walk boulevard hosts the fourth edition of its Oud and Perfume Exhibition, bringing together local and international fragrance brands for a sensory exploration of scent. The free event invites visitors to discover everything from traditional oud to contemporary perfumes, offering a chance to understand how different houses approach composition and ingredients.

Date: Oct. 30 to Nov. 8

Location: West Walk

Find more information here.

• Relay for Life 2025

Qatar Cancer Society returns to Aspire Zone’s Ladies Sports Hall for its second indoor walking event, bringing together cancer survivors, caregivers, sponsors and registered teams in a show of community support. The relay goes beyond the walk itself, featuring activities, food vendors and the symbolic Luminaria Ceremony that honors those affected by cancer. It’s an event built on solidarity, designed to raise awareness while creating space for collective healing.

Date: Oct. 31

Location: Ladies Sports Hall, Aspire Zone

Find more information here.

• The 14th edition of the Kashta Exhibition

The annual Kashta Exhibition returns with its specialized focus on outdoor, marine, camping and hunting supplies, accompanied by activities designed for youth, children and families. Now in its 14th edition, the event has become a fixture for those who take their outdoor pursuits seriously, offering gear and expertise for everything from desert camping to maritime adventures.

Date: Until Nov. 4

Location: Sumaisma and Al Daayen Youth Center

Find more information here.