Art Week 2026: Community as Practice

Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar’s (VCUarts Qatar) is set to host the second edition of ARTWEEK 2026: Community as Practice on its campus from February 1–3, 2026. Organized by the Painting and Printmaking department at VCUarts in Qatar, the program brings together students, artists, educators, and cultural practitioners to reflect on how artistic learning takes shape today. 

Rooted in collaboration, care, and openness, the edition explores how communities form through practice—how art education, inside and outside the classroom, fosters meaningful connections, supports creative growth, and nurtures belonging among emerging and established practitioners.

Over three days, ARTWEEK 2026 unfolds through workshops, lecture-performances, panel discussions, open studios, and informal gatherings. Emphasizing the studio as both a site of making and a space of exchange, the program foregrounds shared experiences, dialogue, and the daily rhythms of working alongside others as central to learning and artistic practice.

The program offers participants opportunities to engage with a spectrum of approaches and perspectives. Discussions examine how institutions and independent initiatives intersect, how artists navigate overlapping roles as learners, makers, mentors, and community members, and how art education responds to shifting cultural, social, and technological contexts.

Building on ongoing collaborations between VCUarts Qatar and VCUarts Richmond, and extending conversations prompted by Living to Learn: Art & Education for the Common Good, edited by Noah Simblist, ARTWEEK 2026 positions Qatar as a key site for exploring the futures of art education and fostering new pedagogical questions, networks, and modes of exchange.

Through reflection, making, gathering, and celebration, ARTWEEK 2026: Community as Practice provides an open platform for students, faculty, visiting artists, and the wider public to connect, learn, and imagine new directions for artistic practice, education, and collaboration, while highlighting the importance of regional networks and alternative spaces for artistic exchange emerging from the Gulf.

Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts Qatar (VCUarts Qatar) is the international branch campus of Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in the heart of Doha. As a leader in art and design education in the Middle East, VCUarts Qatar offers a dynamic, research-driven environment where creative practice intersects with global perspectives, cultural dialogue, and innovation.

The campus offers undergraduate degrees in disciplines such as graphic design, interior design, kinetic imaging, and painting and printmaking, as well as a Master of Fine Arts in Design. Students work directly with internationally recognized faculty who are practicing artists and researchers, and who encourage experimentation and cross-disciplinary exploration.

Graduates of VCUarts Qatar have gone on to become designers, artists, founders, educators, and cultural leaders who contribute meaningfully to creative industries regionally and internationally. 

Speakers and guest artists: Sara Niroobakhsh, Mohammed Somji, Keng Sen Ong, Rose Lejeune, Habeeb Abu Futtaim, Naiza Khan, Sarah Rifkey, Walid Sadek, Aissa Deebi, Zeina Al Arida; Rola Khayyat, Noah Simblist; Dean Amir Berbić.

Director: Dr. Aissa Deebi. Curatorial team: Rola Khayyat, Naiza Khan, Habeeb Futaim. Project: Kamala Rajendran Manojchandran. Art week advisory team: Timo Kaabi Linke, Dr. Alia Al Senussi, Prof. Peter Welz.