Doha, Qatar: Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts (VCUarts Qatar), a Qatar Foundation partner university, will host its international art and design biennial, Tasmeem Doha 2026, from November 1-7, 2026, at its Education City campus.
The week-long event will include workshops and knowledge circles, an exhibition, and a speaker series, included as an official collateral event of the Design Doha Biennial (DDB) 2026. Centred around the theme hawwil or ‘transmit,’ creative practitioners and scholars will come together through making and critical discourse to explore the value of inherited and shared knowledge in contemporary art.
“This edition draws on the Islamic principle of knowledge as a trust (amānah) meant to benefit all, reframing knowledge gained within creative practices as a shared responsibility rather than individual expression,” said the curatorial team, Sara Al-Afifi, (BFA, 2019; MFA, 2024), Hind Al Saad (BFA, 2019, MFA 2024) and Reham Mohamed (BFA,2019), in a joint statement.
“We shaped the curation of this edition of Tasmeem to echo the polymaths of the Islamic world—where the range of practices cover translation, design, architecture, anthropology, archiving, and more. By bringing together regional and international voices, we aim to create dialogue that is rooted in lived histories, contemporary inquiries, and collective responsibility.”
The exhibition, featuring a collective of creators, explores knowledge as a living, evolving process through works that question historical narratives and power structures, preserve cultural memory and experiment with ways of sharing knowledge.
It affirms that the value of knowledge lies not in its control, but in its circulation. “The diversity of disciplines adds depth to the curation of the lineup,” the co-curators explained.
“Rather than grouping participants by medium or technique, we connect them through a shared conceptual framework; linking their practices through ethos, motivations, and the questions they engage with. When different perspectives are encountered within the same space, new interpretations naturally emerge.”
Tasmeem Doha 2026 culminates on November 5 and November 7 during its speaker series, which coincide with the opening of the Design Doha Biennial 2026 and is part of a broader partnership between VCUarts Qatar and DDB.
Under the theme ‘Intergenerational Knowledge,’ the session will feature Elham AlDawsari, Saudi conceptual artist and writer; Ali Van Godil, the award-winning creative director and founder of House of Gul; and, architect Yasaman Esmaili, founder of the architectural design office, Studio Chahar.
The second day brings together practices that rethink how knowledge is gathered, connected, and reinterpreted. From shared forms of knowledge through writing practices, to accessible anthropology, and cross-cultural work that blends research with humor, each expands how we access, share, and engage with knowledge.
