In Doha, collector and designer Dr. Abdulaziz al-Khanji is spearheading a new platform aimed at fostering connections between Arab artists, knowledgeable collectors, and artisans across generations and disciplines. Through his venture, AZ Arts Studio, al-Khanji seeks to cultivate a deeper appreciation of craftsmanship and the narratives embedded in artworks, emphasizing personal engagement over purely financial considerations.
The initiative comes amid a period of growing momentum in Qatar’s private art scene. The country recently hosted the inaugural Art Basel Qatar in February 2026, which featured 87 galleries and showcased 84 artists, more than half of whom hailed from the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia. It was within this evolving cultural landscape that al-Khanji’s own collecting journey began roughly a decade ago, inspired by a damaged painting that emotionally resonated with him despite its imperfections. This experience shaped his collecting philosophy, centered on seeing "perfection" beyond flaws and focusing on the story behind each piece.
Al-Khanji’s interests extend beyond painting and sculpture to include watches, jewellery, furniture, and leather goods, areas in which he actively collaborates with artisans. He is a partner in the watchmaker L’Artisan and co-founder of the Doha Watch Club, viewing these varied disciplines through common themes of material, precision, and the human touch behind creation. His involvement with watchmaking, in particular, has influenced his perspective on art, encouraging him to appreciate the discipline and subtle craftsmanship that underpins the creative process.
A central focus of AZ Arts Studio is Arab art, which al-Khanji believes captures emotional and historical dimensions often absent in formal records. He highlights movements such as the mid-20th-century Hurufiyya, where artists in Iraq, Egypt, Sudan, and other countries merged Arabic calligraphy with modern abstraction to articulate evolving Arab identities. For him, artworks from such periods offer immediate, nuanced insights into history’s lived experience that textbooks cannot.
The collection is deliberately curated to generate dialogue between senior and emerging artists. Al-Khanji values established artists for their technical expertise and historical context, while younger artists contribute experimentation and contemporary perspectives. When assessing new talents, he looks for mastery of materials, conceptual clarity, and a coherent artistic voice, emphasizing that technique can be developed but an unfocused voice is harder to refine.
Al-Khanji sees independent platforms like AZ Arts Studio as complementary to museums and national collections, allowing for more agile support of artists through direct connections, studio visits, and educational initiatives. He underscores the importance of knowledge-sharing and encourages aspiring collectors to engage with art through experience rather than formal theory, attending exhibitions and interacting with creators to build personal connections.
International recognition of Middle Eastern art is also on the rise. Sotheby’s reported record sales in its 2023 Middle Eastern art season, including a $1.1 million sale of a painting by Saudi modernist Mohammed al-Saleem. While encouraged by such milestones, al-Khanji hopes his platform’s value will be measured more by the community it fosters than by market prices. His vision is for a living collection enriched by curiosity and sustained by shared knowledge, where artworks remain open to evolving personal meanings for those who live with them.