Making the Next Headlines

As an Official Partner of Art Basel Qatar, Media City Qatar unveiled The Loudest Grain, the winning artwork of its ‘Next in Arts’ program, during a private presentation held during show week. The reveal brought together national leadership alongside international cultural leaders, collectors, and industry figures, reinforcing Media City Qatar’s role in connecting emerging creative practice from the country with leading global cultural platforms.

The Loudest Grain was selected as the inaugural work of ‘Next in Arts’, Media City Qatar’s three-year program exploring the intersection of art and media. Developed in collaboration with Art Basel Qatar, the program is designed as a sustained platform to support emerging creative voices through experimentation, visibility, and international engagement. The first edition, themed ‘Where Art Meets Media’, features a work selected by a joint jury representing Media City Qatar, Art Basel Qatar, VCUarts Qatar, and Qatar Museums.

The selected artwork is a mixed-media work by interdisciplinary designer and researcher Yasamin Shaikhi, who holds a BFA in Interior Design and an MFA in Design from VCUarts Qatar, and works across material research, design, and critical inquiry. 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.

Hamad Omar A. Al-Mannai, CEO of Media City Qatar, said: “Media City Qatar is committed to building the foundations that allow creative talent to mature, be seen, and engage confidently with the world. Through initiatives such as ‘Next in Arts’, we are creating enduring connections between emerging voices in Qatar and leading international platforms, ensuring that creative practice is supported not as a moment, but as a long-term investment. This approach aligns with the objectives of Qatar National Vision 2030 by contributing to economic diversification and sustainable development, and by strengthening the role of the creative and media sectors within Qatar’s economy.”

Vincenzo de Bellis, Chief Artistic Officer and Global Director of Art Basel Fairs, said: “Strong artistic practice depends not only on ideas and materials, but on the platforms that allow meaningful connections to take place. ‘Next in Arts’, developed with Media City Qatar, creates that space, where emerging work can be shaped through dialogue, research, and visibility. The Loudest Grain reflects a considered engagement with process and material, and demonstrates how such platforms enable new voices to enter a wider international conversation.”

Yasamin Shaikhi, Artist of The Loudest Grain and VCUarts Qatar Alumna, added: “The Loudest Grain grew from an interest in how small, repeated elements accumulate meaning over time, both materially and conceptually. Through Media City Qatar’s ‘Next in Arts’ platform, I was able to develop this work through sustained experimentation and research, allowing the process to shape the final form. Presenting the work within this platform allowed the ideas to move beyond the studio and exist in dialogue with a wider public, opening the project to new readings and exchanges.”

Developed through a sequential material process, The Loudest Grain is cast from a biodegradable biomaterial derived from wasted rice, transformed into translucent bioplastic sheets and assembled into layered disks within a metal framework. The interplay of material, structure, and light creates a luminous, holographic effect that reflects how images, data, and narratives accumulate over time.

The Loudest Grain will be on view from February 5 to 7, 2026, as part of Media City Qatar’s installation at M7, coinciding with Art Basel Qatar.