Doha, Qatar: Qatar Museums (QM), the nation’s preeminent institution for art and culture, yesterday released new details about ‘Giuseppe Penone: The Inner Flow of Life,’ a major survey at the National Museum of Qatar (NMoQ) focused on the career of the pioneering Italian artist.
On view from 26 October 2026 through 13 February 2027, the exhibition presents works from 1970 to the present, foregrounding Penone’s enduring interest in exploring the synergies between human and natural processes.
Co-curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director, Serpentine, and Issa Al Shirawi, Curator and Head of International Exhibitions, ALRIWAQ Arts + Architecture, Giuseppe Penone: The Inner Flow of Life will present more than 50 works including sculptures, drawings, installations, and photographs that reveal Penone’s keen ability to expand artistic techniques through natural materials.
Director, National Museum of Qatar, Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Hamad Al-Thani, said, “We are proud to present this significant exhibition at the National Museum of Qatar, where our history, heritage and relationship with the natural environment are fundamental to the stories we tell. Installed across the museum’s distinctive Baraha and Old Palace, Giuseppe Penone’s works reveal not only the vision of an extraordinary individual artist, but also speak to the deeply human experiences that we share across borders.”
Giuseppe Penone said, “The Inner Flow of Life expands the concepts that inspired the works I have created throughout my life. The observation and understanding that a tree is a fluid element, when considering its growth over time, lie at the heart of my vision of reality and of the connections our existence shares with the continuous flows of the matter of the world. The architecture of the National Museum of Qatar in Doha is inspired by the crystals of the desert rose evoking the vitality and growth inherent in the mineral itself. Displayed in this extraordinary setting, my work engages in a dialogue with the country’s natural elements, water, sun, wind, and sand—and with the vital flow they embody.”
Co-curators of the exhibition, Hans Ulrich Obrist and Issa Al Shirawi, said: “Giuseppe Penone: The Inner Flow of Life is a major event, not only for Qatar Museums, but also for the wider South West Asia and North Africa. Further introducing audiences in the region to Penone’s practice is a rare privilege and we are honoured to have been able to work closely with him to carefully conceive this exhibition for the National Museum of Qatar, allowing Penone’s works to enter into conversation with Jean Nouvel’s architecture.”
Born in Garessio, Italy in 1947, Penone became closely associated with the influential Arte Povera movement of the 1960s and 1970s.
