Art Basel Qatar: a Launchpad for Emerging Artists

A project by a VCUarts Qatar alumni and interdisciplinary artist, Yasamin Shaikhi is selected as the winner of the inaugural ‘Next in Arts’, a three-year programme developed in collaboration between Media City Qatar and Art Basel Qatar. By Mary Joseph

It wasn’t just the artworks of luminaries that drove the conversations at Art Basel Qatar 2026. An installation by up-and-coming Qatar-based Iranian artist Yasamin Shaikhi, titled “The Loudest Grain”, caught the attention of visitors who streamed into M7 during the first edition of the world-renowned art fair to be held in the MENASA (Middle East North Africa and South Asia) region.

Shaikhi’s project was on display as the winning artwork of  Media City Qatar’s ‘Next in Arts’ programme, an initiative developed in collaboration with Art Basel Qatar.  ‘Next in Arts’  is designed as a “sustained platform to support emerging creative voices through experimentation, visibility, and international engagement”.

The theme of the first edition was ‘Where Art Meets Media’.  A joint jury representing Media City Qatar, Art Basel Qatar, VCUarts Qatar, and Qatar Museums selected Shaikhi’s project as the winner of the inaugural edition.

“The Loudest Grain” is a mixed-media work by the young interdisciplinary designer and researcher who holds a BFA in Interior Design and an MFA in Design from Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar (VCUarts Qatar).

The concept behind “The Loudest Grain” begins with a single grain of rice, an everyday material associated with sustenance, repetition, and survival, and uses it as both literal substance and conceptual framework. Individually insignificant yet powerful in accumulation, the grain becomes a metaphor for media itself, where meaning is shaped gradually through repetition rather than volume.

Following the official unveiling on the first day of preview, Shaikhi said the interest in her installation was “beyond expectations”.

“Presenting my work at Art Basel Qatar as a local emerging designer has been an incredibly special moment for me. Being able to represent local artists and designers within a reputed international fair is a true honor, and the sense of gratitude I feel is hard to put into words. I’m thankful to  Media City Qatar’s ‘Next in Arts’ platform for their support and this opportunity to showcase this project,” she said.

Following a ‘Next in Arts’ open call that ended in the first week of January 2026, Shaikhi had three weeks to create the project. Her creative process began with the collection of waste rice. The rice was dehydrated, milled into a fine powder and combined with rice starch and natural binders to form a biodegradable compound. Cast into thin sheets and dried, the material became a translucent bioplastic.

The material’s malleable property allowed Shaikhi to control the thickness. Once cured, the sheets were shaped into undulating disks, and assembled withing a metal framework. The final product possesses an almost gossamer, luminescent quality, diffusing a warm, muted glow.

Shaikhi’s winning submission has its origins in her MFA project that challenged conventional ideas around waste and sustainability. During her studies, she spent months in hands-on experimentation to create material that possessed the properties that would serve her purpose. Her goal was never to solve food waste on a large scale. Instead, she wanted to reframe how people perceive waste by transforming it from something discarded into something that holds value – as a resource rather than refuse.

Back then, though, she never thought her research would lead to a moment where she would exhibit her project at an acclaimed art fair.

“It is hard to describe. The response to the work has been deeply encouraging, with considerable interest in acquiring the pieces, and commissioning new ones. The feeling of intense satisfaction is still sinking in,” she said.