On the eve of Art Basel Qatar’s first VIP Preview Day, Doha’s Museum of Islamic Art was transformed by a surprise intervention by the conceptual art icon Jenny Holzer. Guests began to arrive at 9:00pm at the landmark building designed by I.M. Pei. At 9:35pm, the lights were dimmed to unveil the tenth project in Art Basel Qatar’s Special Projects program: a choreographed moment combining two simultaneous projections of poetry – one across the museum’s main façade and another in its inner courtyard – accompanied by a breathtaking performance of over 700 drones that unfolded in the night sky.

Titled SONG (2026), the new site-responsive work was commissioned by Art Basel Qatar for its inaugural edition. Presenting poems by Mahmoud Darwish, the late Palestinian poet whose lyrical voice has shaped modern Arabic literature, and Nujoom Alghanem, the acclaimed Emirati poet and filmmaker known for her intimate, incisive writing, Holzer brings Arabic and English text into public space as illumination, rhythm, and interruption. Moving between intimacy and monumentality, SONG transforms architecture into a temporary field of light and language – a fleeting chorus of words across stone, air, and sky – inviting audiences to pause, read, and reflect together. The full configuration lasted 15 minutes, a momentary spectacle that marked a confident beginning for Art Basel Qatar and the year ahead.

Following its debut, SONG remains on view to the public nightly as a projection on the museum’s main façade for the full duration of the fair, from 5:30pm through 5:00am daily, February 2–7.

Jenny Holzer is represented by Carolina Nitsch (New York), Cheim & Read (New York), Gary Tatintsian Gallery (Moscow), Hauser & Wirth (Zurich, Basel, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Somerset, St. Moritz), Kukje Gallery (Seoul, Busan), SCAI The Bathhouse (Tokyo), Skarstedt (New York, London, Paris), and Sprüth Magers (Berlin, London, Los Angeles, New York).

Credits and captions

SONG, 2026
Light projection and drones
Museum of Islamic Art, Doha
© 2026 Jenny Holzer, member Artist Rights Society (ARS), NY
Poems by Mahmoud Darwish and Nujoom Alghanem.