Hafez Gallery is pleased to announce its participation in the inaugural Art Basel Qatar 2026, taking place February 5–7 at M7 and the Doha Design District. The gallery will present a solo presentation by Saudi contemporary artist Lina Gazzaz, unveiling the seminal body of work Tracing Lines of Growth.

This marks a significant milestone for both the gallery and the artist: the first major Gulf institutional platform to amplify Gazzaz's botanical and sculptural practice within a curated regional framework aligned with Art Basel's artistic vision.

Tracing Lines of Growth re-scores the Royal Palm's discarded crown shafts into lyrical instruments of time. Through meticulous hand-stitching with fine black thread, Gazzaz reveals the tree's microscopic highways—vascular routes that once pulsed with sap. Each weathered fragment becomes a calligraphic score of resilience, its rippling ribs and vaulted folds summoning oud bodies, desert dunes, and scriptive traces rooted in Qur'anic and biblical lore.

The work embodies Art Basel Qatar's 2026 curatorial theme Becoming—a meditation on humanity's ongoing transformation and the evolving systems that shape how we live, believe, and create meaning. In the Gulf's layered context, where ancient trade routes are reimagined as contemporary flows of culture and capital, Gazzaz's intervention positions the palm as a cipher for adaptive identity. Her practice asserts that art functions not merely as witness to history, but as an active force in the continual redefinition of human agency.

About the Artist

Lina Gazzaz is a Saudi contemporary artist based in Jeddah, working across diverse media including sculpture, installation, painting, and video. Her experimental practice bridges organic material and conceptual inquiry, exploring themes of ecological kinship, cultural memory, and temporal rhythm. She holds a Bachelor of Studio Arts from Meredith College (North Carolina, USA) and has exhibited internationally across Saudi Arabia, the United States, Lebanon, the United Kingdom, Germany, the UAE, and Brazil.

About Hafez Gallery

Founded in Jeddah, Hafez Gallery champions contemporary artists from the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia, fostering deeper engagement with global curatorial platforms and institutional networks. The gallery's mission centers on elevating underrepresented voices and facilitating meaningful dialogue between regional practice and international discourse.

About Art Basel Qatar 2026

The inaugural Art Basel Qatar takes place February 3–7, 2026, across M7 and the Doha Design District. Curated under the artistic direction of Egyptian-born, Doha-based artist Wael Shawky and in consultation with Vincenzo de Bellis, Chief Artistic Officer & Global Director Art Basel Fairs, the fair serves as a platform to foster deeper engagement with leading galleries and artists from the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, and beyond.