Nostalgia Takes Shape in Print at the Fire Station Museum, Doha
On July 16, 2025, the Fire Station: Artist in Residence in Doha opened its doors to Printed Nostalgia, a group exhibition that brings together 99 artists from Qatar and across the globe. Running until September 1, 2025, at Gallery 4, this insightful show explores how memory, both personal and collective, takes shape through the medium of printed works.
The Fire Station. Image courtesy of Qatar Museums
Selected from an international open call that received 322 submissions, Printed Nostalgia is co-curated by Saida Alkhulaifi and Fatima Alzaini. The show offers an expansive reflection on themes like identity, migration, culture, architecture, and daily life, all through techniques that range from digital illustration and photography to collage, painting, and text.
Exploring Memory Through Printed Works
As its title suggests, the exhibition is anchored in the emotional terrain of nostalgia. But it avoids sentimentality by engaging with the material qualities of printed art and its ability to preserve, provoke, and reimagine memory. Whether it’s a digital reconstruction of a lost home, a printed photo that recalls a vanished neighborhood, or a hand-rendered image of an ancestral landscape, each piece is an invitation into deeply felt stories.
Abeer Awad Ahmad Khader, “Untitled” (Photography), Captured in 2010 and re-edited in 2025
The featured artists represent a wide spectrum of geographies and experiences, including Abdulla Al-Obaidly, Agustina Mucci, Ahmed SharafAldeen, Alreem K. Alemadi, Chafic Tony Najem, Federico Lepe, Jo-Anne Malan, Layan Waleed, Mai Eraky, Mohamed Louanjli, Mubarak Al Thani, Omar Alsarayra, and Sakna Hassan. Their works span multiple cultures and continents, adding richness and multiplicity to the exhibition’s central theme.
Amira Tanany, “grandfather and Ramadan” (digital and Lino-cut), 2025
A Reflective Space Within
Ali Gad, “Cotton Candy Clouds” (Photography on Nikon z5), 2022
Aia Hussein, “Aia’s Playful Childhood Memories (2/3)” (Mixed media), 2023
A standout feature of Printed Nostalgia is a specially designed reflective zone within the gallery. This quiet space encourages visitors to respond to the artworks not just visually but emotionally, to remember, process, and perhaps record their own memories.
Amr Alngmah, “Super mario” (digital art), 2020
It’s a curatorial gesture that makes the exhibition participatory and personal, extending the dialogue beyond the gallery walls.
Dina Hashem Zain Omar, “My Father’s Bag -01” (Digital), 2025
This human-centered approach reflects the curators’ intent to engage memory not as a static archive but as a living, breathing experience – one shaped by movement, rupture, migration, and reunion.
The Fire Station Becomes a Platform for Artistic Inquiry
Ameni Abida, “Nap” (Digital illustration), 2023
The Fire Station has become a vital part of Qatar’s cultural infrastructure since its transformation from a mid-century firehouse into an art and residency complex in 2015. Directed by renowned Qatari photographer Khalifa Al Obaidly and with internationally acclaimed artist Wael Shawky as its Artistic Director, the Fire Station supports local and international artists through residencies, mentorship, and exhibitions.
Federico Lepe, “Summer day Skateboard in empty pool delights” (Digital Painting), 2025
Over the years, the Fire Station has built a reputation for hosting thought-provoking group shows and large-scale retrospectives — including Virgil Abloh: Figures of Speech (2021), Picasso-Giacometti (2017), and Pipilotti Rist: Electric Idyll (2024). Printed Nostalgia continues this legacy by offering a platform for emerging and mid-career voices to present intimate, research-driven, and emotionally resonant work.
Qatar Museums and Cultural Infrastructure
Dr. Javeria Nabahat Amin, “Carrying the Cargo of Memories” (Photograph of Plastic on Velvet), 2025
The exhibition is part of a broader effort by Qatar Museums (QM) to develop a strong, inclusive, and innovative cultural ecosystem in the region. Under the leadership of Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, QM continues to invest in contemporary art programming that reflects the country’s growing global engagement while remaining rooted in local heritage.
QM’s vision spans a network of institutions including the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA), Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, and the upcoming Art Mill Museum and Lusail Museum. Alongside large museums, QM nurtures creative hubs such as M7 and Liwan Design Studios — and it is through this ecology that exhibitions like Printed Nostalgia thrive.
Ghayyan Al Amine, “Gate of Time” (Digital Photography), 2022
In an increasingly digital and fast-moving world, Printed Nostalgia offers a pause, a moment to look back, not just with longing, but with clarity and creativity. It reminds us that memory isn’t just something we store; it’s something we shape. And through print, we can give it form, feeling, and voice. As this exhibition suggests, nostalgia isn’t about going back; it’s about finding new ways to carry the past forward.
Ebrahim Bahaa-Eldin, “Sound Sleep” (Matte Inkjet Print ,190gsm Paper, Limited Edition of 10 Signed and Numbered.), 2022
