Places for each session are booked individually, and entry also requires a valid Biennial Day Pass. Seating is limited and allocated on arrival for booked guests. Sessions take place at the Design Doha Hub in Fereej Al Asmakh and at partner venues across Fereej Al Asmakh and Msheireb Downtown Doha. Age guidance is listed with each session.
Hwarat
Design in Conversation
Hwarat brings Design Doha's participating exhibitors, curators and thinkers into conversation across the opening days of Design Doha Biennial 2026. Through talks, keynotes and panels at the Design Doha Hub and inside the Biennial’s exhibitions, the programme looks at how ideas move between people, places and generations.
JALSA WITH AN EXPERT
Three majlis conversations, one each evening of the Opening Days
Three intimate conversation in a majlis setting. Experts share insights and perspectives on a selected topic in a relaxed, informal setting, followed by an open exchange with the audience. Each day brings a different topic.
Designing Beyond Objects: Creating Heart-Centered Experiences
How can design move beyond objects and spaces to shape how we feel, connect and experience the world? Drawing on architecture, design, material innovation and creative practice, this conversation explores cultural identity, the senses and human-centred design as ways to create encounters that leave a lasting impression.
Presenters: Peter Gould, Shahad Al Wazani, Ahmad Angawi
Thursday 5 November · 20:30–21:15 · House of Memory, Fereej Al Asmakh · Registration · 14+
The Art of Curating Design: Principles, Perspectives, and Narratives
How do curatorial approaches shape the way design is selected, presented and experienced? This conversation looks at the principles behind design curation, the relationship between objects and their cultural context, and how exhibitions build narratives that connect design with wider audiences.
Presenters: Glenn Adamson, Ghassan Salame, Javier Peña Ibáñez, India Mahdavi, Nora Al-Sayeh
Friday 6 November · 19:30–20:15 · House of Memory, Fereej Al Asmakh · Registration · 14+
The Intelligence of Materials: How Materials Carry Knowledge, Cultural Memory and Possibilities for the Future
How do materials shape the way we design, build and experience our environments? Bringing together architecture, craftsmanship, material research and creative practice, this conversation examines how traditional knowledge and contemporary innovation can inform more meaningful, context-responsive design.
Presenters: Lucio Frigo
Saturday 7 November · 16:00–16:45 · House of Memory, Fereej Al Asmakh · Registration · 14+
BEYOND THE RESIDENCY: WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Conversations by Liwan
As Liwan's first residency cohort concludes, past residents, institutions and creative collectives discuss how residency programmes can shape creative careers in a fast-changing ecosystem.
Presenters: Thomas Modeen, Sebastian Betancur Montoya, Abdulla Al Obaidly
Moderator: Luciana Ceccatto Farah
Friday 6 November · 14:00–15:00 · Design Doha Hub, Fereej Al Asmakh · Registration · 16+
THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN PRESERVING AND TRANSMITTING CRAFT TO FUTURE GENERATIONS
Conversations
A conversation on the creativity and challenges of bringing traditional craft knowledge into the present, while keeping the essence of cultural identity.
Presenters:
- H.E. Reem BinKaram, Director General, Irthi Contemporary Crafts Council
- Shouq Al Alawi, Crafts Council and Strategy Development Consultant, Creative Hub, Qatar Museums
- Sahar Al Musallati, Programme Director, SADI (Sadu Art & Design Initiative), Al Sadu Society
Friday 6 November · 15:00–16:00 · Design Doha Hub, Fereej Al Asmakh · Registration · 16+
THE SPACE IN BETWEEN
Keynote by Samar Maakaroun from Pentagram
Samar Maakaroun shares how working across cultures and languages shapes her practice. She looks at typography as a form of translation and at the "in-between" as a source of creative opportunity.
Friday 6 November · 16:30–17:30 · Design Doha Hub, Fereej Al Asmakh · Registration · 16+
COMMUNITY & CRAFTSMANSHIP: SUPPORTING ARTISANS ACROSS THE VALUE CHAIN
Talk and conversation with Shoshana Stewart, George Tadros and Anan Aslan, Turquoise Mountain
A visual presentation and conversation on how design and innovation support Turquoise Mountain's artisan communities, from Afghanistan to Syria, across the value chain to global audiences. Q&A follows.
Friday 6 November · 18:00–18:45 · Design Doha Hub, Fereej Al Asmakh · Registration · 16+
DESIGN ECOLOGIST
Conversation series by Design Doha
Design Doha's long-form conversation platform treats design as an ecology of knowledge, materials, climate, culture and economic value. Across the Opening Days it presents two conversations, each pairing two leading practitioners or thinkers.
Friday 6 November · 19:00–19:30 | Saturday 7 November · 17:00–17:30 · Design Doha Hub, Fereej Al Asmakh · Registration · All ages
MODEEN: MULTICULTURAL & INTERGENERATIONAL DESIGN COLLABORATION
Conversation between Thomas Modeen and Andia Modeen
Designer Thomas Modeen and his daughter, curator Andia Modeen, discuss how the Third Culture Ceremony and the Light & Process exhibition were created for the Biennial.
Saturday 7 November · 12:00–13:00 · House 62, Fereej Al Asmakh · Registration · All ages
BU'ED NADHAR: DESIGNING FOR CONTINUITY
Conversations
Panellists from design and visual culture explore resilience as a framework for cultural evolution, Qatar's rediscovery of its material history, and links with the Global South.
Presenters: Zainab Al Shibani, Victoria Dabdoub, Yasamin Shaikhi
Moderator: Katya Kamzolova
Saturday 7 November · 14:00–15:00 · Design Doha Hub, Fereej Al Asmakh · Registration · 16+
THE THREAD THAT BINDS
Lecture by The Love Triangle
An extension of the exhibition's thinking rather than an explanation of it. The lecture treats craft as a contemporary design intelligence that shapes space, process and authorship, not as heritage or ornament.
Saturday 7 November · 15:00–16:00 · Design Doha Hub, Fereej Al Asmakh · Registration · 16+
BUILDING IDENTITY: THE POWER OF BRAND IMAGE IN CRAFT AND DESIGN
Panel presented by Irthi Contemporary Crafts Council
Drawing on Irthi's experience, this panel explores how storytelling, visual language and authenticity built global recognition for a brand rooted in Emirati heritage crafts.
Saturday 7 November · 16:00–17:00 · Irthi Exhibition, Fereej Al Asmakh · Registration · 16+
ABOUT POST OIL
Introductory talk
An introduction to the Post Oil exhibition: its concept, curatorial approach and collaboration with Qatar Museums. It closes with a look at the accompanying publication.
Presenters: Prince Nawaf Bin Ayyaf, Raafat Majzoub
Moderators: Turki Gazzaz, Abdulrahman Gazzaz
Saturday 7 November · 17:30–18:30 · Design Doha Hub, Fereej Al Asmakh · Registration · 12+
SPEAK ABOUT WORK IN ARAB DESIGN NOW – SHIREEN TAWEEL
Artist talk by Shireen Taweel
Shireen Taweel discusses Calculations for Movement, a pierced copper sculpture. The work draws on Arabic astronomical devices, astrolabe treatises and travelogues from the 9th–16th centuries to imagine diasporic futures.
Saturday 7 November · 17:30–18:00 · Arab Design Now, Msheireb · Registration · All ages
CULTURES OF MAKING: READING, CONVERSATION, AND BOOK LAUNCH
Reading and conversation with Wesam Al Asali
Author Wesam Al Asali reads from Cultures of Making: Crafts, Scarcity, and the Environment in the Arab Region inside his installation Falak. A public conversation celebrating the book follows.
Friday 6 November · 17:30–19:00 · Falak, Arab Design Now, Msheireb · Registration · All ages
DECONSTRUCTING CINEMA ON PAPER AND IN SPACE
Conversations by DFI
This talk traces how films are built before and beyond the screen, through scripts, storyboards, sets and exhibitions. It looks at cinema as drawing, document and architecture.
Presenters: Zaina Bseiso, Nathalie El Mir, Fatma Al Remaihi
Moderator: Shaima Al Tamimi
Saturday 7 November · 16:00–17:00 · Design Doha Hub, Fereej Al Asmakh · Registration · All ages