In this episode of the Gallery Girl podcast I’m joined by Elina Sairanen and Wadha Al-Aqeedi, founders of Mathqaf, a platform that publishes, researches, curates, collaborates and champions art from West Asia and North Africa.

“Mathqaf is a novel word in Arabic which means a place for culture”, explains Wadha, “It’s a word that does not exist in the Arabic dictionary but the word follows the same principle of designation of places in Arabic” The pair met in Doha in 2017 while studying for their masters in museum studies, launching Mathqaf in 2020. “We created the project because we wanted to cover art from West Asia and North Africa. We really wanted to create a platform and comprehensive tool that readers could refer to obtain information about specific artists, museums and so on”, she adds, “Our goal is to document the history of art and culture in the region and present it from a non-Western perspective.”

In addition to their increasingly growing online presence, Mathqaf also present themselves as a curatorial collective, taking on projects including shows in Paris and Doha. In 2022, they curated one of the largest collections of contemporary art from West Asia and North Africa at The Ned Doha. “We’re very proud to have close to 70% women presented in the collection”, explains Wadha of the permanent display of more than 350 artworks, many of which have been especially commissioned for the project. “There aren’t that many people in the region or in the world where you can see the art of now in a permanent setting”, adds Elina, “It’s a place that’s very visited and alive. We were able to shed light onto a category of art that isn’t very much out there yet because it’s concerned with very contemporary art and a geography that isn’t as well presented.”

At the moment the pair are curating a solo show with Hunna for Alyamamah Rashed at Fikar – the Failaka Institute for Knowledge and Arts Research – following a six-month residency on Failaka, an island on the coast of Kuwait. The pair have taken several research visits to the island which they are about to exhibit. And, in even bigger news, in 2024 they will be launching a physical art gallery in Doha. “It felt like a natural growth for us to go in that direction”, says Wadha, “Through the platform and the work that we do at Mathqaf we have a lot of artists that we obviously follow and admire and champion, and at the same time we also recognise the kind of work that needs to be done for these artists in order for them to grow and get recognition and so on.” The gallery will focus on contemporary artists from Doha and the Arabian peninsula, though the gallery will have its own name and identity and Mathqaf will continue as its own project. 

Most recently, Mathqaf have been working with Bawa, an online gallery from Kuwait on Prints for Palestine, an emergency relief sale in response to the current situation in Gaza.  They were initially working on another project together but decided to abandon. “It didn’t feel like the right time to be launching”, they explain, “We decided to launch a fundraiser.” The campaign includes ten artists with all proceeds going to Kuwait Red Crescent Society. The fundraiser is also in collaboration with Gulf Photo Plus, who are printing and shipping the works.

But what about advice they have for young women who want to start their own business? “I would say surround yourself with people who are supportive. Who enable your potential. Who believe in the potential you have, but most importantly believe in yourself and take initiative and don’t wait for opportunities”, says Wadha, “Create opportunities. If you feel like that there aren’t enough opportunities, create them. We created the opportunity of Mathqaf.” Elina agrees. “The best project is the project that has been launched. Sometimes women want the idea to be as perfect as possible, but in reality we need the project to be launched as soon as possible because once you launch you will have access to data that you did not have in the planning stage”, she says, “It will never be perfect so that’s why it’s important to get it going and then perfect it as you go.”

I finished by asking Wadha and Elina what one thing they would want listeners to know about art from West Asia and North Africa, with them stressing that terms matter. “For us we would like to bring attention to how words matter”, says Wadha, “I would like listeners to consider using West Asia, North Africa instead of Middle East.” Elina adds that Wadha wrote a piece about why we should reject the term Middle East when Mathqaf launched in 2020, “Since that time we have seen in the art world that some big institutions have started to rethink their language…It’s delightful to see people being more mindful when it comes to the terms that we use.”

Since our original time of recording, Mathqaf organised a show in Doha called The Sky the Moon Lost, organised in solidarity with Palestine at Eiwan Al Gassar which is on view until 4th December. The show presents works from Doha-based artists and also includes a section of donated pieces that are available for purchase with 100% of the proceeds going to the Qatar Red Crescent.