Mathaf’s landmark exhibitions reflect on its roots, realities of resistance

Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art opened “Resolutions: Celebrating 15 years of Mathaf Exhibition” and “we refuse_d” to the public Friday, honouring its roots in Sheikh Hassan bin Mohammed bin Ali al-Thani’s foundational collection and confronting the struggles of artists who face censorship and displacement.

“Resolutions”, on view until August 8, 2026, explores the institution’s journey, showcasing four areas that cover its origins and impact on the region.

The section “Infrastructure: Traces of a Legacy”, curated by Fatima Mostafawi, examines the museum as a complex case study rooted in the vision of artist and collector Sheikh Hassan.

It details how Doha emerged as an artistic hub during the political turmoil of the 1990s and includes archival materials like letters, photographs, and video interviews that capture Sheikh Hassan’s role as both fellow artist and patron.

The exhibition continues its self-examination with “Mathaf as Institutional Memory: An Exhibition History”, curated by Hadeel al-Kohaji, which chronicles the “kaleidoscopic range” of exhibitions the museum has hosted.

This section utilises an elaborate timeline and backstage documents to foster a sense of institutional memory, valuing the museum’s publications, graphic design, and international partnerships.

“Resolution” broadens its scope to the regional impact of art, featuring “Education: Art as Knowledge Creation”, curated by Noora Abdulmajeed.

This underscores the foundational role of art education in cultivating revolutionary possibilities and knowledge circulation within the Arab world.

“Representation and the Writing of History”, curated by Arthur Debsi, spotlights how artists in West Asia and North Africa used a shared visual language in the post-independence era to define a Pan-Arab ideology and continuous resistance, especially in relation to the occupation of Palestine.

Addressing contemporary issues, “we refuse_d” exhibition, curated by Nadia Radwan and Vasif Kortun, brings together 15 artists whose practices explore refusal, endurance, and action.

On view until February 9, 2026, this exhibition asks critical questions about how to persist, resist, and create under conditions of silencing, censorship, and displacement.

Speaking to the media, Kortun said: “To see other people’s misery it’s not what we really wanted to do and we kind of turned the idea of refusal around its head... we know of the concrete cases of cancelations but what we don’t know is the untold, or unwritten or unknowable history of refusals and cancellations.”

Among the highlights of this exhibition are Abdul Hay Mosallam Zarara’s *Untitled, from the Mahmoud Darwish series (2008), the newly commissioned installation *Resonance (2025) by Majd Abdel Hamid, Samia Halaby’s *Six Golden Heroes (2021), and Taysir Batniji’s early work *Untitled (1997).