Fire Station

Overview

Fire Station repurposes Qatar’s first civil defense authority building—constructed in 1982 and operational until 2012—into a non-profit centre for contemporary art production, exhibition, and public education. The complex has been sensitively renovated by architect Ibrahim Al‑Jaida, retaining distinctive architectural features such as the building’s iconic honeycomb façade, central tower, and former fire engine doors while integrating new artist studios, gallery spaces, and public facilities. The site anchors a growing cultural corridor in central Doha between the Corniche and Education City, connecting Qatar’s regional artistic practices to global contemporary art networks and drawing collectors, curators, and art enthusiasts to Doha’s expanding cultural landscape.

Fire Station Residencies and Programme

Fire Station’s core artistic programming is centred on its signature nine-month Artist in Residence (AIR) scheme, which offers around two dozen Qatar-based artists from diverse disciplines dedicated studio space, production support, curatorial mentorship, and access to extensive technical facilities including woodshops, fabrication labs, and Fire Station Cinema.

Residency cycles typically culminate in exhibitions presented across the 700 sqm Garage Gallery—a dramatically converted fire-engine hall and major project space designed for large-scale commissions and experimental contemporary practices—as well as in Galleries 3 and 4, which host shorter-term solo and group shows for current and former residents and international residency participants. The wider campus also includes al markhiya gallery’s two-storey loft venue in the Fire Station plaza, presenting a rolling programme of exhibitions by emerging and established Arab artists that further embeds the complex within Doha’s contemporary art and gallery ecosystem.

In addition to the flagship AIR programme, Fire Station operates complementary residency schemes including Ruwad in Residence (established 2021) for established local artists, Visiting Artist residencies, and a Curator in Residence programme supporting international and regional curators through open calls with dedicated workspace, mentoring, and participation in public programmes. International residencies in Paris and New York extend Fire Station’s curatorial and artistic networks globally, fostering exchange between Qatar-based practitioners and global artistic communities while feeding back into exhibitions across Garage Gallery, Galleries 3 and 4, and partner spaces.

Recent and Current Residents and Curators

Artist in Residence (9th Edition, 2024–2025) participants include Alaa Albarazy (Syria), Alexandrine Guerin (France), Salha Al Subaiei (Qatar), Reem Al Mohannadi (Qatar), Lolwa al Meghaiseeb (Qatar), Khalid Alarabi (Sudan), Reham Mohamed (Sudan), Naima Al Majdobah (Jordan), John Vendetti (Canada), Fae Siddiqui (Pakistan), Natalia Mejia (Colombia), and Nada Elkharashni (Egypt), representing a diverse cross-section of emerging and mid-career artistic practice.

Ruwad in Residence artists include Haifa Alkhuzaei and Ahmed Al Hamar (2024), two established Qatar-based practitioners. Alkhuzaei, a former art educator with 20 years of experience at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art Education from Qatar University (1989) and a General Diploma in Fine Art from Besançon, France (1984). Al Hamar, a member of the Qatar Society for Fine Arts since 1997 and Bachelor of Art Education graduate (1999), has exhibited extensively in Qatar and internationally.[4]

Curator in Residence programme has supported curators since 2020. Past curators include David Suárez Mira (Colombia), a New York–based curator who conducted research on sound art in Qatar and the Gulf region, presenting findings in the Fire Station exhibition Acts of Listening from Future Generations; Fahad Al Turky (Qatar), a cultural professional and exhibition manager who developed curatorial research on slavery and the Indian Ocean region through collaboration with Msheireb Museums; and Hadeel Eltayeb (United Kingdom), whose research explores archival memory, oral histories, and cultural identity through artistic and curatorial practice.

Fire Station Exhibitions

Exhibition programming at Fire Station balances residency outcomes with significant international touring shows and thematic group projects. Qatar Museums has presented major exhibitions at the Garage Gallery including Picasso’s Studios (2020), KAWS: He Eats Alone (2019–20), Ai Weiwei’s Laundromat (2018), Picasso‑Giacometti, and comprehensive surveys of the Russian avant‑garde and German contemporary art collections.

Recent residency‑driven exhibitions include The Present: The Future of the Past (2023), which showcased works by 31 AIR alumni including Abdulaziz Yousef, Abdulrahman Almuftah, Arman Mansouri, Aya Battiri, Charlene Kasdorf, Fatima Javed, Hind Alobaidli, Lucy Martin, Noor Alkharaan, and others, demonstrating Fire Station’s commitment to documenting and celebrating residency outcomes and artistic development.

In 2025, Fire Station unveiled two Ruwad in Residence exhibitions—Fatma Al Naimi’s And Then, A Return and Aissa Deebi’s What Remains to Be Seen—presented in Fire Station Galleries 3 and 4 (November 13 – December 13, 2025), advancing the institution’s commitment to sustained, long‑term support for established Qatar‑based practitioners and mature artistic voices.

Alongside exhibitions and residencies, Fire Station engages the broader Doha public through artist talks, curator conversations, workshops, film screenings, and community events designed to foster dialogue around contemporary art practice and support cultural exchange in Qatar. The complex includes Café 999, the Cass Art supply shop, and outdoor plaza areas that position Fire Station as a social and cultural meeting place alongside its function as an artistic production hub.

Who leads Fire Station’s Vision?

Fire Station is directed by photographer and curator Khalifa Al Obaidli, with Saida Al‑Khulaifi serving as Head of Programmes and Exhibitions, providing day-to-day curatorial and administrative leadership. In November 2024, internationally recognised Egyptian artist Wael Shawky was appointed as Fire Station’s first Artistic Director by Qatar Museums, significantly expanding the institution’s artistic leadership, strategic programme development, and international curatorial vision.

Rose Lejeune, who has contributed important articles to Ocula and previously worked with Delfina Foundation in London, leads Fire Station’s Academic and Community Programmes, shaping the institution’s curatorial research, public programmes, and discursive initiatives in Doha and internationally.

Wael Shawky: Artist and Artistic Director

Wael Shawky is an internationally acclaimed artist known for films, performances, installations, and multimedia works exploring history, myth, collective memory, and cultural narratives. His work has been exhibited at major institutions including the Tate Modern (London), MoMA PS1 (New York), and leading international biennales, establishing him as a significant figure in contemporary art discourse. Shawky is also the founding director of MASS Alexandria, an independent study and artist studio programme in Egypt that has become a model for non-institutional art education and research in the MENA region.

At Fire Station, Shawky shapes the institution’s overall artistic vision and strategic direction, with particular emphasis on developing residency‑centred educational and research initiatives. Under his artistic direction, Fire Station is launching the Arts Intensive Study Program (commencing 2025), an expanded educational strand aimed at deepening training and mentorship opportunities for emerging and mid‑career artists in Qatar and across the broader MENA region. This initiative draws on Shawky’s extensive pedagogical experience at MASS Alexandria and his global networks within contemporary art, positioning Fire Station as a regional leader in artist education and international artistic exchange.

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