qatar announces permanent national pavilion in giardini

For the first time, Qatar will host a permanent national pavilion at the Giardini della Biennale, one of the key sites at the historic Venice Art and Architecture Biennales. Following the signing of a Protocol of Cooperation between Qatar Museums and the Municipality of Venice last year, the pavilion is set to debut at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia in May 2025, running from May 10 to November 23, with a two-part exhibition titled ‘Beyti Beytak. My home is your home. La mia casa è la tua casa.’ The exhibition will showcase the multitudes and commonalities of contemporary architectural expressions of hospitality and cultural exchange across the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia (MENASA) region. Works will celebrate regional architectural legacy, with a noteworthy contribution by Pakistani architect Yasmeen Lari who will bring her installation, Community Centre, which was exhibited at Doha’s Manzar exhibition, to the gardens in Venice. Meanwhile, the exhibition at ACP-Palazzo Franchetti will highlight works by over 20 modern and contemporary architects from across the region.

Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chairperson of Qatar Museums and commissioner of the Qatar Pavilion, emphasized the pavilion’s role in cultural diplomacy: ‘La Biennale di Venezia is the world’s pre-eminent gathering in art and architecture, and the Giardini is the historic landscape where extraordinary pavilions stand as ambassadors for their nations. Qatar is proud to take its place in this international assembly, advancing our role as a global leader in cultural diplomacy and providing an unparalleled platform for giving voice to the creative talent of our nation and the MENASA region.’

Padiglione Centrale Giardini | image by Andrea Avezzu, courtesy La Biennale di Venezia

the exhibition explores menasa region’s cultural hospitality

The new Qatar Pavilion will be located next to the historic Book Pavilion, a prime central site within the Giardini. Its inaugural exhibition will be organized by Doha’s future Art Mill Museum and curated by Aurélien Lemonier (Art Mill Museum) and Sean Anderson (Cornell University), with the collaboration of Virgile Alexandre to bridge historical and contemporary architectural narratives of the MENASA region. This concept, titled ‘Beyti Beytak. My home is your home. La mia casa è la tua casa.’ — a phrase denoting cultural hospitality in three languages — reinforces the 19th International Architecture Exhibition theme, Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective, set forth by the Biennale’s curator Carlo Ratti.

Among the figures represented are modernist profiles such as Raj Rewal (India), Nayyar Ali Dada (Pakistan), Abdel Wahed el Wakil (Egypt), and Minnette de Silva (Sri Lanka), alongside contemporary names like Marina Tabassum (Bangladesh), Sameep Padora (India), Abeer Seikaly (Jordan), and Sumaya Dabbagh (UAE).

Yasmeen Lari, Community Center, Doha, 2024, © Qatar Museums

Regional Architectural Legacies at venice architecture biennale

The establishment of the pavilion at the Biennale follows a Protocol of Cooperation signed between Qatar Museums and the Municipality of Venice in June 2024, strengthening cultural and socio-economic collaboration between Qatar and Italy. This makes Qatar only the third nation in the last 50 years to secure a permanent presence in the venue, joining Australia and the Republic of Korea.

Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, President of La Biennale di Venezia, welcomed Qatar’s participation: ‘Venice is the only European city to have had, since the year 1000 CE, a name in Arabic, Bunduqiyyah, a fact that testifies to the teeming mixture of languages and ethnicities that have long sheltered here. In the spirit of curiosity, exploration, and sincere human exchange that characterizes Venice and its Biennale, I welcome Qatar to the Giardini, as a powerful global source of creativity and cross-cultural understanding.’

Abeer Seikaly, Weaving a Home, 2020, © Abeer Seikaly

Abeer Seikaly, Weaving a Home, 2020, © Abeer Seikaly